Botany
Halon is an erect, stout, branched, unarmed, annual herb, growing to a height of 1 to 2 meters. All parts are usually reddish-purple. Lower leaves are oblong-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, up to 25 centimeters long, 8 cdentimeters wide, with long petioles. Upper leaves are similar in shape but smaller. Panicled inflorescences are terminal and are borne in the upper axils of the leaves. Panicles are 15 to 30 centimeters long, red, green or yellow. Flowers are numerous, about 1.5 centimeters long. Sepals are oblong to oblong-obovate, apiculate and shorter than the bracts. Utricle is 3-toothed at the apex, circumciss, exceeding the calyx. Seeds are brown or black, shining, about 1 mm in diameter.
Distribution
In open waste places, at low and medium altitudes, from nothern Luzon to Mindanao.
Certainly introduced; sometimes, cultivated.
Constituents
- Contains a high content of beta-carotene, ascorbic acid and folate.
- Oil from Amaranthus cruentus contain 19% palmitic acid, 3.4% stearic acid, 34% oleic acid, 33% linoleic acid, 9% docosaenoic acid.
Parts used
Leaves, seeds.
Uses
Culinary
In Iran and Iraq, seeds and tender leaves are eaten.
In Southeast Asia, plant is used as a vegetable.
Folkloric
Decoction of leaves used for chest afflictions.
In India, seeds are used as food and medicinally, as diuretic.
Also, applied to scrofulous sores.
Studies
• Radiomodulatory / Radioprotective: (1) Study showed albino mice pretreated with leaf extract provided protection against gamma irradiation in mice. (2) Study showed mice pretreated with Amaranthus extract was protected against various biochemical changes. Results support the postulate that increased ROS induced by radiation exposure may be involved in some of the aversive effects of stress. Antioxidants in the extract are able to cope with radiation-induced oxidative stress to some extent, and may be due to the synergistic effects of some herb constituents. (3) Study showed Amaranth supplementation provides antioxidative efficacy and benefits in learning performance after ionizing radiation exposure to the brain. (4) Methanolic extract of Ap increased survivability in Swiss albino mice against lethal dose of gamma radiation. Radiation induced augmentation in MDA, protein, and glycogen content of liver is significantly ameliorated by amaranth extract, and radiation-induced depletion in glutathione and cholesterol is checked by treatment with AE.
• Antioxidant: (1) The ability of A. paniculatus extract to act as a free radical scavenger or hydrogen donor was revealed by DPPH radical-scavenging activity assay. (2) Amaranth seeds, in a dose-dependent manner, can act as a moderate protective agent against fructose-induced changes in rats by reducing lipid peroixidation and by enhancing the antioxidant capacity.
• Saponins / Toxicity Study / Safety: Study concludes that the low content of saponins in amaranth seeds and their relatively low toxicity guaranee that amaranth-derived products create no significant hazard for the consumer.
Availability
Wild-crafted.
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