VITAMIN-C IN LEAVES AND SEED OIL COMPOSITION OF THE AMARANTHUS SPECIES

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