[10] Once maturation is reached, the plant stem and leaves change in colour to yellow, red, green or purple.

[7][10] Cañihua is a member of the Goosefoot family (Amaranthaceae) and falls under the Chenopodium species, the genus comprises 150 herbaceous flowering plants.

The South American Cañihua is not believed to be the direct A genome donor for Quinoa but a close relative to it.

[11] Since 2019 a whole assembly reference genome for cañihua is available and renewed interest in improving agronomic properties using modern plant breeding is expected by experts.

The lacustrine region of Lake Titicaca is considered the centre of origin – it is there where genetic variability in cañihua is still greatest.

Today cañihua remains confined to Peru and Bolivia and the crop has not spread outside the arid highland regions.

A possible discrimination is by coloration of seeds or fluorescence into Wila (red), Q’illu (yellow), Janq’u (white), Chiara (black) and others.

Improved landraces typically show outstanding yield and reduced risk of grain losses in the maturity stage and during harvest.

The germplasm banks of Camacani-UNA-Puno and Illpa-INIA-Puno currently house 430 unique samples from specific locations, accompanied by passport data and agronomic and morphological characterizations.

[19] Cañihua can be grown from 1500 m up to 4400 m, but is rarely cultivated below 3800 m. The plant exhibits a high resistance to abiotic stressors.

[17] Furthermore, Cañihua displays resilience to saline conditions, often prevalent in areas with fast-growing populations and low water availability.

[17] Cañihua has to be harvested at colour change,[19] before full maturation, to prevent high yield losses due to seed scattering.

The varieties are interesting for inclusion in breeding programs, aimed to enhance the adaptability of cañihua for cultivation on larger scales.

One possible reason could be that the Amaranthaceae family consists of plants with comparable characteristics, resulting in potential market competition.

On the other hand, the success of quinoa and the increasing demand for it in western countries, could facilitate the entry to the global market.

[14] For the rural livelihoods in South America cañihua has potential regarding food security, nutrition and self-reliance.

[25] As normally grown under harsh conditions with low weed pressure, this crop could suffer yield losses in varying climates.

Locally there are good results with sheep manure and nearly no fertilizer needs to be applied in crop rotations with potatoes.

This technology present numerous advantages such as low cost, simple operation, moderate production volume, minimum auxiliary equipment, versatility, good sanitary conditions and easy management.

[citation needed] The most affected group are rural families having limited access to commodities due to poverty and droughts.

[citation needed] Cañihua is both easily accessible and drought-resistant, offering potential food and income for highland farmers.

[27] In order to alleviate problems of food security, new food-processing technologies and products are being developed to encourage companies to process native Andean crops and to increase their consumption as well as open market opportunities using cañihua.

[30][31] The protein content (15.3%) of cañihua grain is higher than that of quinoa and kiwicha,[5][6][28][31] and similar to wheat (12.6%) and oats (16.9%).

With percentages of 1% of glucose, 2% of sucrose and 1% of maltose, amounts of free sugars are rather small, but slightly higher than those of quinoa or amaranth.