quinoa rice has soap. Anyone who has eaten quinoa knows that if the saponin in the outer layer of the seed is not removed, quinoa will taste a little bitter when cooked. And the substance that brings that bitter taste is quinoa saponin.

composition of saponins

to explain this problem, let's start with the composition of quinoa saponins. This thin layer of saponins is a complex and biologically active natural organic compound composed of sapogenin and sugar. The sugars that make up saponins are glucose, galactose, rhamnose, arabinose, xylose, glucuronic acid and galacturonic acid.

Saponins are the main anti-nutritional substances in quinoa. In fact, quinoa saponins exist not only in the seeds, but also in all parts of quinoa plants, such as leaves, flowers, fruits and seed coats. Saponins exist mainly to resist birds' predation, pests and diseases.

is saponin harmful to human body?

Saponins must be taken in a certain amount to cause slight toxic reaction to human body, so don't worry even if you accidentally eat them. But from the taste point of view, it is really unnecessary for the bitter taste of saponins to appear in our eating experience of seeds. Therefore, we need to remove saponins from the quinoa before cooking.

there are two main methods:

method 1: soaking

it is really a good way to remove saponins by washing and soaking quinoa before cooking. After all, saponin is a water-soluble substance, which can be completely dissolved in water by soaking. It takes 1-2 hours if soaking is the only method. However, this soaking method is unrealistic. For example, office workers can't have enough time to make breakfast with quinoa fragrant rice in the morning. Therefore, there is a more practical and efficient method 2.

Method 2: Scrubbing

Although this method sounds "simple and rude", it is more efficient and time-saving. Rubbing is to put quinoa in a vessel (bowl), fill it with water, and directly rub and wash quinoa by hand, paying attention to control. After repeating this process for about 5 times, the saponin in the outer layer of quinoa will soon be lost, and the problems of germ germination and nutrient loss caused by long-term soaking will be avoided, and the time will be greatly saved.

in order to preserve the activity and nutritional integrity of the harvested seeds, the surface saponin was not treated, so the integrity of the seeds was well preserved, and the activity and nutrition of the germ were kept in the original state.