*7.2.1 Carotenoids*

Also known as natural pigments that give a yellow to orange-red color to plant tissue. We also find carotents and xanthophylls as major subgroups of carotenoids [46]. Additionally, the consumption of carotenoids has beneficial effects for human health such as protection against cardiovascular diseases, cataracts, cancer, and muscle degeneration [46].

On the other hand, regarding the content of carotenoids, they have been studied in samples of quinoa grown in Egypt and Finland, as in commercial samples, where B-carotene and lycopene were found in five genotypes of quinoa grown in Egypt, also B-carotene could be found in a commercial white quinoa sample, but high levels were found in pigmented quinoa sample. Furthermore, regarding the Finnish sample, six carotenoids were found in quinoa samples [46].

#### *7.2.2 Tocoles*

They are methylated phenols with a saturated side chain; in addition, tocopherols exist in four isoforms, α-, β-, γ-, and δ-tocopherol differing in the position of the methyl group on the chromanol ring [46]. On the other hand, the tocol content has been moderately investigated in quinoa seeds, carrying out a study of four varieties of quinoa grown in Peru, where the main isomer of tocopherol was α-tocopherol that

presented values in the range of 463 and 1444 ppm [46]. In addition, the highest content of α-tocopherol and total tocopherol was found in the yellow variety of Maranganí. Additionally, in Buenos Aires, four tocopherol vitamers were found, where y-tocopherol was the one with the highest content, followed by α-tocopherol, where its content was 0.9 and 3.1 mg [46]. Continuing, tocopherol investigations were also carried out in nine varieties of quinoa from four countries, counting Peru again, Bolivia, Colombia, and Denmark; the results showed two isoforms of tocotrienol and the β isoform of tocopherol were not present in the pigmented and non-pigmented varieties. Finally, Melini, V. & Melini, F mention that through all their research, α-, β-, γ-, and δ-tocopherol have been identified in 39 pigmented and non-pigmented quinoa samples, where γ- tocopherol was the most abundant, and the black genotypes were more abundant than the white varieties [46].
