Amaranth, puffed (amaranth, raw), organic?)

Puffed amaranth is gluten-free, just like raw amaranth ( Amaranthus ssp.). When puffed, it is about the size of a mustard seed. The popular amaranth pops can be bought or easily made yourself, although organic amaranth is preferable. Because of the heat, they are never raw (raw food).

Use in the kitchen

You can buy puffed amaranth or make it yourself. Amaranth pops are made in a similar way to popcorn. This is why they are not suitable for raw food cooking, as the high temperatures generated during production are high. The crunchy, puffed grains taste nutty.

How can you eat puffed amaranth? You can eat puffed amaranth on its own or mixed with other cereals such as millet, quinoa or chia seeds and eat it for breakfast with plant-based drinks and fruit. Raw amaranth, which is a component of Erb-Müesli, for example, is also suitable for this. Puffed amaranth is an excellent ingredient in homemade muesli bars, pastries, desserts, cookies, cakes and breadings. Amaranth pops can be sprinkled decoratively over prepared dishes and desserts or used to coat vegan chocolates, energy balls ( fruit balls) and bread.

For cooking, it is preferable to use unpuffed, raw amaranth.

Making your own puffed amaranth

How do you make puffed amaranth? Puffed amaranth is easy to make at home. Put a tablespoon of amaranth grains into a very hot, tall pot, and they will immediately start to puff. Hold the pot close to the stove and move it back and forth. The amaranth pops are ready in a few seconds and you can put them in a cold container to cool down. Before you start the second run, it is important to wipe the pot with a clean kitchen towel.

Vegan recipe for muesli with puffed amaranth

Ingredients (for 2 people): 50 g oat flakes, 2 tsp linseed, 2 tsp dried berries (e.g. raisins, cranberries, goji berries, mulberries or aronia berries), plant drink e.g. soy milk (as desired), 1 apple, 4 tbsp puffed amaranth, 4 Brazil nuts.

Preparation: Mix oat flakes, linseed and dried berries in a bowl. Add plant milk until you reach the desired consistency. Stir well and leave to steep for 20-30 minutes. Wash the apple, remove the core and cut into small pieces. Mix the apple pieces and puffed amaranth into the muesli and divide it between two bowls. Garnish each with two Brazil nuts.

Vegan recipes with puffed amaranth can be found under the note: " Recipes that have the most of this ingredient ".

Purchasing - Storage

at major retailers such as Coop ( Vitality), Migros, Interspar, Rewe, Edeka and Billa, In organic supermarkets such as Alnatura or Denn's as well as in drugstores (e.g. DM) you can often buy puffed and raw amaranth all year round, mainly in organic quality. Aldi, Lidl, Hofer, Denner and Volg do not have it in their standard range.

Puffed amaranth is also available as amaranth popcorn, amaranth poppies, amaranth poffies or amaranth popcorn. This is never raw (raw food quality) because high temperatures are required for production. When shopping, we recommend looking for puffed amaranth from controlled organic cultivation in order to keep the pollution from chemical pesticides to a minimum. Occasionally, you can buy puffed amaranth from the Alpine region (Austria), which scores highly in ecological terms. You should also make sure that it does not contain any sugar or other additives.

A large proportion of the amaranth (raw or puffed) offered in Europe comes from South and Central America (e.g. Peru, Bolivia and Mexico). ⁸ Raw amaranth is in season in the DACH countries from mid-September to November. ⁷ Outside of the local season, amaranth is available in stores all year round as a stored product or thanks to long-distance imports.

The availability of puffed amaranth varies depending on the size of the store, catchment area, etc. Our recorded food prices for the DA-CH countries can be found above under the ingredient image - and by clicking on them you can see their development at various suppliers.

Storage tips

Amaranth pops can generally be stored in a dry, light-protected container. The low water content resulting from the manufacturing process and the enzymes and microorganisms inactivated by heat increase the shelf life of amaranth pops. Activated fat enzymes lead to premature spoilage of the fatty acids in amaranth. ¹

The easiest way to tell whether the pops are still edible after a long storage period is by their smell. Oxidized amaranth pops smell unmistakably rancid.

Ingredients - Nutritional values - Calories

100 g of puffed amaranth has an energy content of 400 kcal. ¹⁷ The largest part is carbohydrates with 68 g/100 g. It contains 8.8 g/100g fat and 6.3 g/100gfiber. Amaranth has a protein content of 15 g/100g. ¹⁷

Manganese is contained in puffed amaranth at 2.3 mg/100g, which is 115% of the daily requirement. Lupine meal or mustard powder contain a similar amount. Wheat bran contains a lot of the trace element (12 mg/100g).

The value of the amino acid tryptophan in amaranth (puffed) is 0.19 g/100g (77% of the daily requirement) and is comparable to vegan whole grain macaroni. Legumes in particular ( goa beans : 0.76 g/100g), but also seeds ( hemp seeds : 0.61 g/100g) contain a lot of this valuable amino acid.

Puffing leads to vitamin losses, particularly the B vitamins. Heat and pressure destroy vitamin B₁ almost completely and vitamin B₆ by up to 75%. The values of the less heat-sensitive vitamins such as vitamin B₂ or niacin, on the other hand, remain quite stable. In the case of proteins, the essential amino acid lysine is completely lost. Compared to other methods of producing breakfast cereals, puffing results in the greatest loss of nutrients. ¹

The magnesium and phosphorus content in puffed amaranth is also lower than in raw amaranth. The proportion of essential amino acids, however, remains relatively stable. ¹⁷ You can find a detailed description of the ingredients of untreated, gluten-free amaranth in our article Amaranth, raw (amaranth seeds, kiwicha).

The complete ingredients of puffed amaranth, the coverage of the daily requirement and comparison values with other ingredients can be found in our nutrient tables. In the article Nutrients explained you will get a detailed insight into the topic.

Health effects

Is puffed amaranth gluten-free? Amaranth is one of the gluten-free pseudocereals (amaranth family). It is a complete grain substitute for people with gluten intolerance and is suitable as a dietary food for people with celiac disease (sprue, gluten-sensitive enteropathy). When buying, look for the gluten-free symbol (crossed-out ear of corn), which only licensed products are allowed to carry. This way you avoid contamination with foods containing gluten.

How healthy is puffed amaranth? Due to the high pressure and high temperatures involved in the puffing of amaranth, proteins are denatured, harmful Maillard products (acrylamide) are created, enzymes are inactivated and unsaturated fatty acids are converted into trans fatty acids. For this reason, amaranth pops should not be consumed regularly or in large quantities. ¹

Prefer untreated amaranth, which you can freshly squeeze or grind. This contains more nutrients than the puffed version. Even commercially available flakes are hot-rolled to inactivate the fatty enzymes that ensure rapid oxidation of the fatty acids. ¹

Secondary plant substances

Many of the health effects of amaranth can be attributed to the secondary plant substances it contains. Our article on secondary plant substances provides an overview of the classification of the substance groups, their occurrence in foods and possible effects on humans.

However, it should be noted that the composition of the secondary plant substances in amaranth can vary depending on the variety, time of harvest and growing conditions. Therefore, quantities are only of limited use and should only be understood roughly.

Dangers - Intolerances - Side effects

The pseudocereal is not toxic, but contains so-called antinutrients such as oxalates and phytates. ^2,3

The phytate content in amaranth is higher than in rice and millet, but lower than in corn and grains. ² Phytate and phytic acid bind minerals in the human body so that they are no longer available to the organism. The content can be reduced by soaking or germinating. More on this under " Phytic acid or phytate and soaking or germinating ".

The oxalate content of amaranth is between 178 and 278 mg/100g. ³ People with kidney problems or kidney stones should limit their consumption of foods with a lot of oxalate and oxalic acid. Normal consumption amounts are safe for healthy people. Rhubarb (800 mg/100g) and beetroot (675 mg/100g) are known to have a high oxalic acid content. Herbs such as chives (1480 mg/100g) and parsley (1700 mg/100g) contain much more, but only small amounts are consumed. ⁵

Amaranth has a long tradition in Latin America (and parts of Africa and Asia). Amaranth is also used there as baby food and as a supplementary food for small children. However, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment considers pseudocereals to be less suitable due to the antinutrients they contain. ⁶ Pseudocereals such as amaranth, buckwheat or quinoa are becoming increasingly popular as baby food, but their tolerability for infants and small children is controversial. Oats or gluten-free millet are more suitable alternatives. ⁴

Ecological footprint - animal welfare

The CO ₂ footprint of amaranth depends on several factors, such as: cultivation method, country of origin, transport, processing and packaging. Despite extensive research, we were unable to find any precise information on the ecological footprint of amaranth.

Amaranth flour produced in Bolivia and sold in France has a footprint of 1.61 kg CO ₂ eq/kg according to CarbonCloud. ¹⁸ The ecological footprint of quinoa (also a pseudocereal) is 3.65 kg CO ₂ eq/kg according to the Danish climate database Concito. ¹³ Both pseudocereals are imported into the DACH countries from Peru, Bolivia and Mexico. These long transport routes have a drastic impact on the climate, because transport by ship, truck and sometimes even airplane releases a lot of CO ₂ emissions. ¹⁴

We were unable to find any concrete data on the water footprint of amaranth. The amount of water needed to produce 1 kg of quinoa is 4512 liters. Regional grains such as rye (1544 l) or barley (1423 l) have a significantly lower water consumption. ¹⁵

For detailed explanations of various sustainability indicators (such as ecological footprint, _CO2 footprint, water footprint), see our article: What does the ecological footprint mean?

The increased demand for the pseudocereals amaranth and quinoa is leading to a number of environmental pollution and social problems in the South American growing countries. Intensive cultivation leads to deforestation, increased use of chemical-synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, as well as water shortages and soil depletion. Exports are also increasing the prices of quinoa and amaranth in the growing countries, which means that the local population can no longer afford their staple foods. ^14,16

Animal welfare - species protection

The numerous flowers of the amaranth plant are of great benefit to bees and insects. ⁹

Worldwide occurrence - cultivation

Where does amaranth come from? Amaranth ( Amaranthus spp.) originally comes from South and Central America. The genus Amaranth includes 50-60 species, the seeds and leaves of which can be consumed. In addition to cultivated species, there are also wild specimens. The individual species have different areas of origin (gene centers). The tricolor amaranth ( Amaranthus tricolor) originally comes from India and southern China. Amaranthus lividus (syn. A. blitum) comes from southern and central Europe and Amaranthus dubius from Central America. ¹⁰ Amaranthus caudatus comes from Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador. ¹¹

Today, amaranth is cultivated worldwide in temperate to tropical regions. Important cultivation areas are Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, East Africa, Malaysia, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, southern China and India. ^10,12

Information on cultivation and harvesting can be found under the ingredient Amaranth, raw.

Industrial production

There are two different processes for producing amaranth pops. Popping allows the grain to expand without the pressure normally used in industry. The amaranth grain pops on its own when exposed to heat. Puffing, on the other hand, involves a temperature of up to 300 °C and high pressure (up to 35 bar). A sudden drop in pressure causes the grain to expand explosively. The water contained in the grain evaporates and the starch gelatinizes. ¹

Further information

The genus amaranth ( Amaranthus) belongs to the family Amaranthaceae. Is amaranth a type of grain? Amaranth is a dicotyledonous plant and is a pseudocereal, in contrast to the "true cereals", which are monocotyledonous grasses. Other important pseudocereals are quinoa ( Chenopodium quinoa) and kañiwa or cañihua ( Chenopodium pallidicaule), both of which belong to the genus goosefoot ( Chenopodium). Also known as pseudocereals are the seeds of the Mexican chia ( Salvia hispanica) from the mint family and the knotweed plant buckwheat ( Fagopyrum esculentum).

Alternative names

In South America it is known as Kiwicha. Alternative German names are garden foxtail (garden foxtail) or Inca wheat. Common spellings are amaranth, amaranth grains, amaranth grains, amaranth seeds, amaranth seeds,

The English name is amaranth. There are various spellings and names such as foxtail amaranth, garden amaranth, Inca wheat, pendant amaranth or purple amaranth.

Puffed amaranth is called puffed amaranth or popped amaranth in English.