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<big>''[[Amaranthus hypochondriacus]]'' L.</big>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Amaranthus hypochondriacus'' (PROTA)}}
:Protologue: Sp. pl. 2: 991 (1753).
== Synonyms ==
*''Amaranthus hybridus'' auct. non L.
== Vernacular names ==
*Prince’s feather, amaranth (En). *Amarante, brède malabar (Fr). *Amaranto, bredo (Po). *Mchicha (Sw).
== Origin and geographic distribution ==
''Amaranthus hypochondriacus'' leaves are occasionally used as a potherb and the seeds are used as a grain. Its use as a grain crop is most important in Central and South America and in Asia. The seeds are used like maize: popped, roasted or milled. In Mexico the product is known as ‘zoale’ paste and ‘alegría’ cake and confections. In the Himalayas bread made from the seeds is very popular and the popularity of ''Amaranthus hypochondriacus'' as a grain crop in India is increasing. In Africa it is experimentally tried as a leafy vegetable. ''Amaranthus hypochondriacus'' is also grown as an ornamental.
== Properties ==
== Description ==
*Annual herb, erect or less commonly ascending, up to 2 m tall, often reddish tinted throughout; stem stout, branched, angular, glabrous or sparsely to moderately densely furnished with multicellular hairs. *Leaves arranged spirally, simple, without stipules, long-petiolate; blade broadly lanceolate to rhombic-ovate, 2–18 cm × 2–15 cm, attenuate or shortly cuneate at base, obtuse to subacute at apex, mucronate, entire, glabrous to sparsely pilose, pinnately veined. *Inflorescence stiff with thick branches, large and complex, consisting of numerous agglomerated cymes arranged in axillary and terminal spikes, the terminal one up to 45 cm long, usually with many lateral, perpendicular, thin branches. *Flowers unisexual, subsessile; bracteoles 3–5 mm long and always longer than the tepals; tepals 5, lanceolate, 1–2 mm long with one equal to or longer than the fruit, the other 4 shorter; male flowers with 5 stamens c. 1 mm long; female flowers with superior, 1-celled ovary crowned by 3 thick, spreading stigma branches about 1.7 mm long. *Fruit an obovoid to rhombic capsule 1.5–2 mm long, circumscissile, with a short beak, 1-seeded. *Seed obovoid to ellipsoid, compressed, c. 1 mm long, whitish to yellowish or blackish. *Seedling with epigeal germination; hypocotyl 10–12 mm long; cotyledons about 18 mm × 5 mm, fleshy, petiolate.
''Amaranthus'' comprises about 70 species, of which about 40 are native to the Americas. It includes at least 17 species with edible leaves and 3 grain amaranths. ''Amaranthus hypochondriacus'' belongs to both categories. ''Amaranthus hypochondriacus'' is part of the so-called ''Amaranthus hybridus'' complex, a group of species in which taxonomic problems are far from clarified because of apparently common hybridization and nomenclatural disorder caused by misapplication of names. Several cultivars of ''Amaranthus hypochondriacus'' exist; most of these have pale seeds, but some have black seeds.
== Ecology ==
''Amaranthus hypochondriacus'' as a vegetable amaranth grows well at day temperatures above 25°C and night temperatures not lower than 15°C, but it is grown as a grain crop up to 2000 m altitude in the Himalayas. Shade is disadvantageous except in cases of drought. Amaranth is a quantitative short-day plant, which is an advantage in the subtropics, where the conversion to the generative stage is retarded during summer. Amaranths like fertile, well-drained soils with a loose structure. The mineral uptake is very high. Although ''Amaranthus hypochondriacus'' is fairly tolerant of adverse climate and soil conditions, escapes growing as a weed tend to disappear because they cannot compete with true weeds like ''Amaranthus spinosus'' L. or ''Amaranthus hybridus'' L.
== Management ==
Commercially vegetable amaranth is usually grown as a sole crop on beds. It is also found in intercropping systems with food crops and in home gardens. There are 2500–3500 seeds/g. The common cultivation practice is sowing in a nursery at a seed rate of 3–10 g/m<sup>2</sup> and transplanting after 2–3 weeks. Wet rot or stemrot caused by the fungus ''Choanephora cucurbitarum'' is the main disease. It is favoured by wet conditions, low soil fertility and high nitrogen doses. Insects are a serious problem for amaranth growers. Caterpillars (''Spodoptera litura'', ''Helicoverpa armigera'', ''Hymenia recurvalis)'' and sometimes grasshoppers are the most harmful. Most commercial amaranth growers harvest whole plants by uprooting 20–30 days after transplanting. Good growers normally harvest 20–25 t/ha (maximum 30 t/ha) of an uprooted crop (dry matter content 16%, edible portion 35–50%, being the total of leaves and young stems). The harvested plants are bundled, the roots are washed and the produce is packed for transport to the market. In markets and shops it is sprinkled with water to keep a fresh appearance. If uprooted, the vegetable can be kept fresh for some days by putting it in a basin with the roots in the water. It is sold in bunches or by weight.
== Genetic resources ==
A collection of amaranths is kept at the Rodale Organic Gardening and Farming Research Center (OGFRC) at Kutztown, Pennsylvania, United States; South-East Asian accessions are kept at the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) at Tainan, Taiwan. African cultivars and introductions from OGFRC are kept at the National Horticultural Research Institute (NHR) in Nigeria and African cultivars at the AVRDC centre at Arusha, Tanzania. Indian collections are maintained at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in New Delhi, India. Many national institutes have small working collections of local cultivars. Evaluation and variability studies are needed to reveal the amount of exploitable genetic variation. Breeding of ''Amaranthus hypochondriacus'' as a leafy vegetable does not occur; all efforts are directed toward development of good seed cultivars.
== Prospects ==
== Author(s) ==
* P.C.M. Jansen , PROTA Network Office Europe, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 341, 6700 AH Wageningen, Netherlands
== Correct citation of this article ==
Jansen, P.C.M., 2004. '''Amaranthus hypochondriacus''' L. [Internet] Record from PROTA4U. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Ressources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. <http://www.prota4u.org/search.asp>.
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[[Category:PROTA]]
[[Category:Vegetables (PROTA)]]