Nutritional value of vegetable Amaranthus tricolor L. seedlings grown in Moscow region

The use of amperometric express method made it possible to measure quickly and evaluate content of waterand alcohol-soluble antioxidants in extracts from Amaranthus tricolor L. plants. Accumulation of low molecular weight antioxidants: ascorbic acid, beta-cyanine (amaranthine) and the total content of antioxidants in various organs of Valentina amaranth seedlings were studied. The maximum amount of low molecular weight antioxidants accumulates in leaves, compared with roots and stems of seedlings grown in open and protected ground. In open ground conditions, amaranth leaves and stems have 1.5-fold and 2-fold increased level of ascorbic acid than seedlings grown in protected ground. But the total content of water-soluble antioxidants in leaves and roots of seedlings is lower compared to seedlings of protected ground. Minimum amount of antioxidants was found in alcohol extracts of stems and roots in open ground, while the total content of antioxidants in stems and roots was 1.6 fold higher in seedlings grown in protected soil. The content of amaranthine is comparable in the studied organs of amaranth seedlings of both cultivation variants. The data obtained allow to recommend use of leaves and stems of amaranth seedlings grown in open and protected ground (early spring and autumn), as a preventive antioxidant dietary product.