Impact of consumption of cooked red and black Chenopodium quinoa Willd. over blood lipids, oxidative stress, and blood glucose levels in hypertension-induced rats

Hypertension is associated with the overproduction of free radicals, generating oxidative stress, which could contribute to the lipid peroxidation, altering the blood lipid levels, and to the development of diseases such as diabetes. The aim of this work was to evaluate the bioactivity of cooked red and black quinoa over blood lipids, oxidative stress and glucose levels in hypertension34 induced rats by the supply of the drug N (ω)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). The consumption of red quinoa increased significantly (p < .05) the levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL). In addition, the quinoa consumption, regardless of the variety, not only increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase and catalase), but also reduced blood glucose levels. The total phenolic compounds and total flavonoids content were higher in red than in black quinoa while this latter obtained better values for the total antioxidant activity. In conclusions, the presence of bioactive compounds in quinoa could be the responsible for its capacity to improve the HDL levels, the in vivo antioxidant activity and the levels of fasting blood glucose in hypertension-induced rats. Findings from this study could promote the consumption of quinoa, which seems to be a good source in the development of functional foods, in order to take advantages of its bioactivities.