[citation needed] To the Quechua people of South America, A. caudatus is referred to as kiwicha, quihuicha, inca jataco; ataco, ataku, sankurachi, jaguarcha (Ecuador), millmi, or coimi.

[2] While to the Aymara people, who are native to the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America, A. caudatus is known as qamasa.

[2] Many parts of the plant, including the leaves and seeds, are edible, and are frequently used as a source of food in India as well as in South America, where it is the most important Andean species of Amaranthus, known as kiwicha.

The colour of these highly dense flowering panicles ranges from black, to red and more commonly white.

Leaves and side branches grow outward from the central stem and may start as low as the base of the plant.

A. caudatus is originally from Central and South America and was used as a staple grain by the Inca, Maya and Aztec civilizations.

[2] A. caudatus is an indigenous crop from the high Peruvian Andes that has been cultivated for thousands of years by many cultures including the Incas.

However, because of its great nutritional content, A. caudatus is regaining popularity and returning to compete with modern crops.

Although A. caudatus is seldom recognized outside of the Andes, significant plantings have been observed in Mexico, China, Nepal, India and Kenya.

[9][10] The crop is planted by transfer, with the help of seedlings in fields or by direct drilling at the beginning of the rainy season.

They are cut at a height of 10 to 55 cm and the cultivation practices are similar to those of corn: ear emergence, two-stage fertilization and weed control.

In the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Argentina, the plant is grown in the traditional way on non-irrigated land without fertilizers.

In this process, they are placed on clothing or tamped floors for threshing and sieved so that the seeds can be separated from the dead leaves.

Blister beetles (Epicauta adspersa) and red weed caterpillar (Loxostege bifidalis) were also found in some countries.

[8] As a result, A. caudatus is particularly beneficial for infants, children, and pregnant and lactating women, but also vegetarians and vegans.

A. caudatus has also been found to have anthelmintic, antinociceptive, antipyretic, anticancer, antiallergenic, antidiabetic, immune system stimulation, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, and antibacterial properties.

[11] Nowadays, and because of its nutritional values, some scientists explored the substitution of some vegetables by amaranth leaves in kenyan traditional dishes and investigated if the vitamins and minerals remain when boiled for instance.

During dry seasons when forage is limited, fodder from A. caudatus stover would be an essential source of animal feed for Andean farmers to maintain their livestock.

However natural dyes tend to have a lower colour fastness and therefore may not function well as a direct substitution.