Quinoa – the precious gold of the Incas

Felicidad Gonzales, farmer and member of the Anapqui co-operative

Delicious, healthy and colourful – quinoa is also becoming increasingly popular in Germany. The small seeds are versatile – they can be used in soups, salads, casseroles, various side dishes and even desserts.

Felicidad Gonzales, farmer and member of the Anapqui co-operative: “It's really pleasing to see how quinoa cultivation has developed in recent years. Ultimately, we have organic farming and fair trade to thank for this. Many families have come back here because of the good prospects offered by quinoa cultivation today.”

Hand in Hand Project Anapqui

Strength, energy and resilience

History

Quinoa comes from South America. The “gold of the Incas” was already being cultivated there 6,000 years ago. Even back then, the people of the Andes used quinoa as an essential staple food due to its valuable ingredients.

The quinoa plant was considered sacred by the Incas. It stood for strength, energy and resilience. The Spanish conquistadors banned the cultivation of quinoa and introduced European cereals such as wheat, barley and oats. Only in some remote high plateaus at up to 4,000 metres did the plant survive and continue to be used to supply the inhabitants of the Andes.

Botany

Quinoa (botanically chenopodium quinoa) belongs to the foxtail family and is related to spinach, chard and beetroot. Due to its cereal-like use, quinoa is also known as a pseudo-cereal.

The appearance and size of the quinoa depend very much on the variety and the growing conditions. The plant with panicle-like inflorescences flowers in a wide variety of colours, depending on the variety.

The numerous small seeds ripen in these flowers. The annual herbaceous plant can reach a height of up to two metres under favourable conditions.

Quinoa is grown along the west coast of Latin America. However, the best climatic conditions are found in the high plateaus of the Andes in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

Cultivation, harvesting and processing

There are numerous varieties of quinoa in different colours, with over 3,000 in Bolivia alone. Some of the Quinoa farmers still cultivate their fields using traditional manual labour. With the increased demand, however, modern technology is also being used.

The harvest takes place from April to June. The plant pulled out by the root and dried. After a few days, the dried bunches are spread out on a cloth and threshed. The wind helps to separate the grain from the chaff. Rapunzel’s quinoa supplier, ANAPQUI, processes the quinoa in its own facility in Challapata. Here, the saponin layer is removed from the quinoa, which is then cleaned, dried, sorted and packaged.

Mit Hilfe des Winds werden die Quinoa-Körnchen von der Spreu getrennt.

Nutritional physiology

The small grains are real powerhouses and unique in terms of their nutrient composition. Quinoa is a valuable source of protein and contains essential amino acids that have an important function for cells, muscles and organs in the human body.

The content of lysine, an amino acid that is otherwise mainly found in meat and fish, is remarkable. Quinoa is therefore particularly interesting for vegetarian and vegan diets. Quinoa also contains valuable fibre, vitamins, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids, including the important omega-3 fatty acid.

Fair and sustainable quinoa cultivation

Rapunzel has been sourcing quinoa from the HAND IN HAND partner of the small farmers’ cooperative ANAPQUI (Asociación Nacional de Productores de Quinua) since 1995. This organisation in Bolivia consists of almost 2,000 small farmers, almost exclusively indigenous, who grow and market organic quinoa of the Real variety in the southern Bolivian highlands (Altiplano).

Quinoa is now the main source of income for the local population. The increasing demand makes it all the more important to practise sustainable quinoa cultivation in order to protect the fragile ecosystem of the Altiplano. ANAPQUI therefore favours organic farming, the observance of rest periods after quinoa cultivation (fallow land) and the integration of animal husbandry (llamas).

The animals provide valuable fertiliser, and the sale of meat and leather is another source of income for the farmers.

Mitarbeiter von Rapunzel sind regelmäßig vor Ort, wie hier Stefanie Colombo von der Abteilung Rohstoffsicherung.

Quinoa Real – a special variety

Quinoa Real, so-called king quinoa, grows exclusively in the high altitudes of the Bolivian Andes. The barren and salty soils not far from the Salar de Uyuni salt lake at an altitude of more than 3,500 metres are perfect for growing this variety. Quinoa Real is characterised by its larger grain size. Rapunzel offers this quinoa variety.

By the way: The members of ANAPQUI specifically plant natural bush and shrub vegetation on the plateau to counteract erosion. This was also supported with money from the HAND IN HAND fund.

Rapunzel has been paying the HAND IN HAND donation (formerly HAND IN HAND Fund) to the RAPUNZEL One World Organic Foundation since 2022.

Quinoa

Quinoa mix

Quinoa white

Quinoa red

Recipes with Quinoa

Quinoa Patty

Quinoa Nuggets, vegan

Quinoa raisin bread

Asparagus salad with quinoa mix and soy beans Edamame

Histamine free oriental quinoa bowl with tahini and fried Halloumi

Quinoa Zucchini Beignets

Lunch Bowl with roasted Vegetables, sautéed Chard, Quinoa & Avocado

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HAND IN HAND Project Anapqui

Product Knowledge: Rice

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FAQ – Frequently asked questions

FAQ about Quinoa

What are the black dots in cereals, legumes or oilseeds?

In the case of organic cereal products, despite intensive labour input during cultivation and intensive cleaning measures, the presence of foreign seeds cannot be completely ruled out, nor can products with optical deviations. The colour of a grain or seed in cereals, legumes and oilseeds varies from harvest to harvest due to many factors such as soil conditions, climate and weather. Since we work with many small farmers from different growing areas, the products are exposed to different influences that lead to natural colour variations. Extreme weather conditions can cause such severe optical changes that it is no longer possible to sort out grains and seeds at a reasonable economic cost. However, as we value long-term economic cooperation with the small farmers, we also buy the harvest in difficult years and try to use it in the best possible way. No herbicides are used in the organic sector. Thus, in some cases, even weed seeds of the same weight or size are very difficult to remove from the product. Of course, these products are subject to particularly intensive controls by us and are only traded if it is a purely visual problem, without any effects in terms of taste and nutritional quality. We are trying to further improve our possibilities for mechanical cleaning, but this is sometimes very difficult due to physical limits (e.g., 0.5 mm amaranth).

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What is gluten?

Gluten, also known as gluten protein, is a group of certain proteins found in cereal grains such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats. The gluten content is of decisive importance for the baking properties of a flour. Gluten protein binds up to three times its weight in water when it becomes moist. In the process, it develops rubber-like, elastic properties. Like a skeleton, the gluten threads run through the bread dough and ensure that a fine-pored, loose dough forms. The quantitatively and qualitatively highest gluten is provided by wheat, to which it also owes its excellent baking properties. Some people are allergic to this protein due to a metabolic disorder. With sprue or coeliac disease, the medical names for this intolerance, a lifelong gluten intolerance remains. Coeliac disease and sprue are chronic diseases of the small intestine that manifest in childhood or do not appear until adulthood. Since the organism has an intolerance to the gluten protein, those affected must eat a gluten-free diet. The following grains are gluten-free in their unprocessed state: Rice, maize, millet, buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa.

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