CHENOPODIUM ALBUM: CHARACTERISTICS, HABITAT, PROPERTIES, USE - BIOLOGY - 2025

The Chenopodium album L. or white quinoa as it is also known, is an annual, erect plant, about 2 m high, that presents alternate irregularly toothed leaves. It is a weed of crops such as wheat, sunflower, rice and flax. Other common names have been given to this Chenopodiaceae such as goose foot, pigweed, common amaranth, and white ash.

This herb has been evaluated as an anthelmintic and insecticide, being used in folk medicine. It has been found that the leaves have a great impact on the control of adults of Oryzaephilus surinamensis (coleoptera), and that the inflorescences of this plant better control the juvenile stages of said pest.

The piglet. Source: pixabay.com

It is one of the most important predominant herbs on farmland. Its presence is sometimes of care in nature, since its consumption in excess can be poisonous to animals such as sheep.

However, the seeds are an important food source for many species of birds. Also, the seeds can be ground and with them prepare a kind of flour. The young leaves can be used in the preparation of soups

characteristics

Morphology

Pigweed is an annual herb about 10 to 250 cm tall, with an angular, branched and pointed stem, brownish-yellow in color and with green or reddish parallel stripes.

Its leaves are alternate, petiolate and without stipules, almost devoid of pubescence and of a dark to light green color. The shape of its leaves is ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate-rhomboid, serrated along its entire margin, and they measure 1 to 12 cm long by 0.5 to 8.0 cm wide.

Chenopodium album leaves. Source: pixabay.com

For their part, the flowers of these plants are monoecious, with perfect flowers grouped in continuous glomeruli, and united at the base to the perianth. They are farinous and provided with pubescence. They have five stamens, sometimes 3 or 4, and the pistils have a strong style and two papillate stigmas.

The flowers are pollinated by the wind, more or less from May to October. On the other hand, the flowers are self-compatible, and can also be cross-pollinated; therefore, its reproduction can be in both ways.

Pigweed flowers. Enrico Blasutto

The seeds are shiny and black. They measure approximately 1.2mm wide by 1.3mm long. The outline of the seeds is circular, with rough ridges, and a pericarp more or less smooth to remove.

Seed dispersal occurs from the droppings of cattle, pigs, sheep, and sparrows. They can also be dispersed thanks to human activity, through agricultural activity, road construction, movement of ballast and debris, and similar activities.

Piglet seeds. Rasbak

Physiology

The seeds of the white quinoa have dormancy, which has favored the reproductive success of this species as a herb. The seeds can remain dormant below the ground for about a year, and even longer.

Likewise, it has been found that substances that inhibit germination in photoperiods below 8 h are different from substances that inhibit germination below 17 h.

Regarding nutrition, it has been determined that this plant species extracts high amounts of phosphorus in its juvenile growth phases. For its part, it has also been determined that seed germination responds to variation or changes from red to far red light. It has also not been shown that pigtail is associated with mycorrhizae.

Habitat and distribution

The piglet is a cosmopolitan species that develops between latitudes 70 ° N and 50 ° S, except in areas that have extreme drought conditions or desert areas. Therefore, its distribution is found throughout all the continents of the Earth. This plant species grows in areas where the annual rainfall can vary from 300 mm to 3250 mm.

It grows in strongly acidic to alkaline soils, podsols or gleysols, with well-drained conditions and presenting gravel or rock.

Habitat of Chenopodium album. AnRo0002

White quinoa is distributed in disturbed habitats in many areas of the countries where it is found. Its presence is related to the appearance of other wild species.

Taxonomy

The pig was described by Linnaeus in 1753, and the taxonomic classification of this plant responds to the following hierarchy:

- Kingdom: Plantae.

- Phylum: Tracheophyta.

- Class: Magnoliopsida.

- Order: Caryophyllales.

- Family: Amaranthaceae.

- Genus: Chenopodium.

- Species: Chenopodium album L.

As for the known varieties of common ash, there are more than 40 listed. Among the varieties described, the following ten stand out:

- Chenopodium album var. acuminatum.

- Chenopodium album var. album.

- Chenopodium album var. andinum.

- Chenopodium album var. berlandieri.

- Chenopodium album var. boscianum.

- Chenopodium album var. candicans.

- Chenopodium album var. centrorubrum.

- Chenopodium album var. coronatum.

- Chenopodium album var. dacoticum.

- Chenopodium album var. desertorum.

Chenopodium album. Johann Georg Sturm (Painter: Jacob Sturm)

In relation to its name, some of the synonyms that pigtail has are: Chenopodium strictum Roth (1821), and Chenopodium suecicum J. Murray.

Medicinal properties

Different species of Chenopodium have some medicinal, therapeutic or edible properties. In general, it is known that the saponins present in quinoa are responsible for the activity against fungi and bacteria.

Especially, pigweed has been used as a laxative, diuretic, hepatoprotective, sedative, and for its antiparasitic (anthelmintic) activity, and it is also consumed as an oxygenator of the brain.

Chenopodium album is a domesticated species that has increased in value due to the balanced content it presents in terms of essential amino acids, the proteins contained in its seeds, and the mineral and vitamin richness contained in its leaves.

Use in agriculture

Pigtail has the facility to attract a high number of pests and diseases, therefore it is recommended to use it as a trap crop, as this plant species attracts these numerous pests, it is the target of attacks by them in the field, thus preventing another crop of greater economic interest and more susceptible to this attack is affected.

The pests that have been found on pigweed are the following: Bourletiella hartensis (Colembola), Aeolothrips fasciatus, Taeniothrips vulgatissimus, Thrips fuscipennis, Thrips tabaci (Thysanoptera), Melanotrichus flavosparus, Lygus lineolaris, Atulagomusrichis modestidae (Mirosagus cousaglis) fabae, Hayhurstia atriplicis (Aphidae), Scotogramma trifolii (Lepidoptera), Coleophora annulatella, Atriplex spp. (Coleophoridae).

Other pests have been observed on pigweed such as the nematodes Meloidogyne sp. and Pratylenchus pratensis.

Some of the microorganisms that attack pigweed (diseases) are: Cercospora dubia, Diplodia ellisii, Fusarium spp., Peronospora farinosa, Phoma longissima, Physoderma pulposum, Puccinia aristidae, Septoria spp., Stagonospora atriplicis, Uromyces peckianus (fungi). Also, pigweed is susceptible to attack by some viruses such as mosaic virus.

References

1. Russo, S., Yaber, M., Leicach, S. 2011. Effect of Chenopodium album L. extracts on the larval and adult stages of Oryzaephilus surinamensis L. (Coleoptera: Silvanidae). Idse 29 (1): 51-57.
2. Bassett, IJ, Crompton, CW 1978. The biology of Canadian weeds. 32 Chenopodium album L. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 58: 1061-1072.
3. Tropics. 2019. Chenopodium album L. Taken from: tropicos.org
4. The Taxonomicon. (2004-2019). Taxon: Species Chenopodium album Linnaeus - common lambsquarters. Taken from: taxonomicon.taxonomy.nl
5. Catalog of Life: 2019 Annual Checklist. 2019. Chenopodium album. Taken from: catalogueoflife.org