the.com/amaranth
the grain so tough the Aztecs worshipped it and the Spanish tried to ban it
means A plant grown for its edible seeds and leafy greens, often with deep red flowers, whose name also denotes a purplish-red color and an idealized flower imagined never to fade.
from From Greek 'amarantos,' meaning 'unfading' or 'unwilting' — built from the negative 'a-' plus a root tied to 'marainein,' 'to wither' (a cousin of words for fading and decay). The Greeks pictured a mythical flower that never died, the perfect bloom of eternal life. The final 'th' is a later twist: English speakers, perhaps thinking of 'anthos' (flower) or the spelling of words like 'amaranthus,' tacked it on, so the truly unfading flower picked up a letter it was never born with.
- name meaning
- Greek for unfading, the flower that never wilts
- banned crop
- Cortés outlawed it for its bloody ritual use
- complete protein
- rare plant source of all essential amino acids
- pseudocereal
- a seed, not a true grass-grain at all
- popping trick
- tiny seeds burst into miniature popcorn when heated
amaranth grain peru — staple crop in andean region for 8,000 years, now grown commercially in peru, bolivia, and ecuador
amaranth dye cochineal — red dye extracted from amaranth seeds, used in textiles and cosmetics since pre-columbian times
amaranth spinach leaf — edible leafy green vegetable grown throughout asia, africa, and the caribbean as a nutritious substitute for spinach