Amaranth grain

[3] Amaranth plants are classified as pseudocereals that are grown for their edible starchy seeds, but they are not in the same botanical family as true cereals, such as wheat and rice.

Grain amaranth is also grown as a food crop in limited areas of Mexico, where it is used to make a candy called alegría (Spanish for joy) at festival times.

In other preparations, the grain can be popped like popcorn and then either mixed with honey, or served with milk, dried fruit and nuts like a cold breakfast cereal.

In a 100-gram (3+1⁄2-ounce) amount, cooked amaranth provides 430 kilojoules (103 kilocalories) of food energy and is a moderately rich source of dietary minerals, including phosphorus, manganese, and iron.

[24] Many species of amaranth grain are hardy plants, showing resistance to changes in pH, salt content, environment, temperature, and drought.

[24] Amaranthus retroflexus, "pigweed", is a wild amaranth species native to the United States and is considered a weed in the Northeast, Nebraska and Great Plains, South, and West.

[citation needed] In addition they formed shaped images of their gods with amaranth, agave, and maize during the sacred month of Huitzilopochtli.