It has a very high iron and vitamin C content. Amaranth was considered to be helpful in treating mouth and throat inflammations and sores and in quelling dysentery and diarrhea. A teaspoon of dried leaves boiled in a cup of water was used to stem abnormally profuse menstrual flows as well as internal hemorrhaging or eventually cure ulcers in the digestive tract (6).
Flowers, leaves, and roots were sought because of their astringent quality for external wounds, sores, and ulcers. Because of its ability to produce a soapy lather, the leaves were used in the washing of bandages and other fabrics from the sickroom. A tea made from the leaves by some Indian tribes was used to allay stomachache and to wash arthritic parts of the body. Strong decoctions were thought ot kill and expel intestinal worms (6).
It is also known to produce betacyanins (238).
It is known to produce pinitol, which when extracted and purified is a white, crystalline inositol derivative, C7H14O6, originally obtained from the resin of the sugar pine Pinus lambertiana (238).
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