Vitamin C in leaves and seed oil composition of the Amaranthus species.

The foliage of 62 specimens of Amaranthus belonging to 10 species of grain and four of vegetable type were analysed for vitamin C content. The overall range of vitamin C was from 69 (A. cruentus, AG-122) to 288 mg/100 g (A. hypochondriacus, Rasna) in the grain type and 62 (A. tricolor, Amar-peet) to 209 mg/100 g (A. tricolor, AV-101, exp) in the vegetable type (fresh weight). Variation of vitamin C with leaf position (age) was also studied. While the oil content in 110 lines of A. hypochondriacus varied from 4.4 to 13.2%, most of the specimens had promising oil composition with regard to unsaturated fatty acids.