Dialect Yinqing, scientific name: Amaranth retroflexus, Amaranth! Belongs to Amaranthaceae.

Traditionally, the plant kingdom is divided into four categories, namely, phylum Algae, bryophytes, ferns and seed plants. ?

Among them, seed plants are divided into gymnosperms and angiosperms.

Angiosperms are divided into dicotyledonous plants and monocotyledonous plants.

Amaranthaceae belongs to dicotyledonous plants.

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Amaranth retroflexus: Stems erect, 20-80 cm high, branched, densely pubescent. Leaf blade ovate to elliptic-ovate, apex slightly convex or slightly concave, with small awns, both sides and edges pilose. Seeds round to obovate with black surface. ? Causes and hazards of introduction and diffusion:1Found in Hebei and Shandong in the middle of 9th century. It is a common weed in vegetable gardens, orchards and dry crops such as cotton and corn. In addition, the plant can be rich in nitrate, which will cause poisoning after excessive consumption by domestic animals.

Amaranth retroflexus is an annual herb with erect stems, 20~80cm high and branches, sometimes reaching1.3m; Stems erect, stout, pale green, sometimes with purple stripes, slightly obtuse, densely pubescent. Leaves alternate with long stalks, rhomboid or elliptic, 5~ 12cm long and 2~5cm wide, with sharp or concave apex, small convex tip, wedge-shaped base and pilose. Panicle terminal and axillary, erect, 2~4cm in diameter, formed by most spikes, the terminal spike is longer than the lateral one; Bracts and bracteoles are subulate, 4~6mm long, white, and the apex is pointed; 5. Tepals, perianth segments are white, with 1 light green midvein, acute or concave apex, and small spikes. Utricle oblate, annular transverse fissure, wrapped in persistent tepals. Seeds are subglobose, with a diameter of 1mm, brown or black.

Amaranth retroflexus is a typical harmful weed, which easily affects the growth and reproduction of other organisms. "To remove Amaranthus retroflexus, it is necessary to increase the intensity of labor, and of course it can also be eliminated by chemical weeding. Like many weeds, the biggest harm of Amaranthus retroflexus is that it takes a lot of manpower and material resources to remove it. "

Amaranth retroflexus is a common weed in farmland, orchards, roadsides and wasteland, which often pollutes crop seeds. If it is not effectively controlled, the yield of corn, soybean, spring wheat, rape and vegetables will be obviously damaged. Affected the harvest, due to the invasion of Amaranthus retroflexus, the yield of sugar beet decreased by 49% and that of soybean decreased by 22%.

Amaranth plants have the ability to accumulate nitrate in different growth periods and environmental conditions. The amount of nitrate accumulated by Amaranthus retroflexus is enough to kill livestock, and its stems and branches are the main tissues for storing nitrate. With the growth of Amaranthus retroflexus, the nitrate absorption rate increased continuously, reaching the maximum before flowering, and the nitrate content in leaves could reach 30%. In the competition research between Amaranthus retroflexus and corn, it was found that nitrate nitrogen was the main nitrogen stored in Amaranthus retroflexus, and nitrate nitrogen might enhance the competitiveness of Amaranthus retroflexus.

Amaranthus retroflexus is the host in tomato field, peach aphid in peach orchard and apple orchard, cucumber mosaic virus in pepper field, and potato field is seriously infected with potato early blight. At the same time, Amaranthus retroflexus is also the field host of black cutworm, American blind grass grazing stinkbug and European corn borer.

It has been reported that Amaranthus retroflexus can cause human skin allergy.

Prevention and control measures

Agricultural control: rotation of tall intertillage crops and short dense sowing crops. Intertillage and weed 3-4 times at the right time during the crop growth period. Chemical control: 2,4-d, 25% herbicide ether, 50% prometryne and 50% ligulong wettable powder can be used.

research status

The effects of root exudates of Amaranthus retroflexus and its residue extracts with different concentrations on the germination and growth of wheat, corn and rape seeds were studied under laboratory conditions by using the improved differential sowing * * * culture method, with Descurainia sophia as the control.

The results show that:

(1) The root exudates of Amaranthus retroflexus seedlings can significantly inhibit the growth of crop root length and seedling height;

(2) The extracts of Amaranthus retroflexus with different concentrations can inhibit the germination of crop seeds, and the inhibitory effect increases with the increase of concentration;

(3) Except 0.025 g * ml-1treatment can promote the root length and seedling height of wheat and maize, the other concentrations of Amaranthus retroflexus extract can inhibit the root length and seedling height of crop seedlings to varying degrees, and the inhibition of root length is stronger;

(4) Amaranthus retroflexus has stronger inhibitory effect on crop seedlings than the malignant weed Descurainia sophia, and the quantitative analysis of risk assessment shows that Amaranthus retroflexus is a highly dangerous plant in Shaanxi Province.

nutritional ingredient

Amaranth: also known as human-feeling food and amaranth, it is the tender stem and leaf of Amaranthaceae plants, such as Amaranth retroflexus, Amaranth viridis, Amaranth crispus and Amaranth amaranth. Modern medicine has confirmed that amaranth is rich in iron, calcium, carotene and vitamin C, which is helpful to the growth and development of teenagers and the health of adults.

Seedlings and tender stems and leaves. Every lOOg edible fresh stem and leaf contains 70mg of carotene, B23．55mg of vitamin B, 0/530 mg of vitamin C/kloc, 5.529 mg of niacin loog, 0.619 of crude fiber, 89 of sugar, 610 of calcium and 93mg of phosphorus.

Amaranth contains no oxalic acid, and its calcium is easily absorbed by human body, while rich iron can synthesize hemoglobin in cells, which has the functions of hematopoiesis and oxygen carrying, and is known as "blood-nourishing dish". Amaranth contains a variety of amino acids, especially lysine, which is necessary for human body, while corn, wheat, rice and other grains contain less, so eating amaranth often is very beneficial to human health.

How to eat amaranth: Wash it, blanch it with water, then cold-mix, stir-fry, make stuffing, make soup, etc.

Harvesting and processing

Collect seedlings or young stems and leaves before flowering from April to August.

Processing methods: ① Wash fresh vegetables, seedlings or tender stems and leaves, stir-fry or make soup, or cook and rinse, then cool and adjust food. (2) Dried vegetables: fresh and tender stems and leaves or seedlings are directly dried, or scalded in boiling water, then taken out and drained, dried and stored. Soak in boiling water, stir-fry or make soup when eating.

Resource development and protection

Amaranth retroflexus is distributed in the northern and southern provinces of China, and it has strong fecundity and vitality, wide adaptability and easy access to seeds. It is worth mentioning that the calcium content of wild amaranth is about 3 times that of spinach and 6 ~10 times higher than that of bean products. It is an excellent nutritional and health care dish for children and the elderly. Wild seeds can be collected and planted in barren hills and slopes. It can provide people with food, prevent wind and fix sand, and green barren hills and slopes.

Medicinal value:

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that amaranth is cool and sweet, and has the effects of clearing away heat and improving eyesight, promoting defecation, astringing swelling, detoxicating dysentery, resisting inflammation and stopping bleeding. Can be used for treating hematuria, internal hemorrhoid hemorrhage, tonsillitis, acute enteritis, etc.

Amaranth is nutritious and has high medicinal value. However, due to its cold nature, it should be used with caution by people with spleen deficiency and loose stool, and should not be eaten with turtles.