Quinoa oil is a vegetable oil extracted from germ of the Chenopodium quinoa, an Andean cereal and has been cultivated since at least 3000 B.C.
[3] Quinoa yields an average of 5.8% oil by weight, compared to 3-4% for corn (maize), which means it could potentially be used to produce more oil than an amount of corn of the same weight.
Most oils with high concentrations of unsaturated fatty acids spoil quickly, but quinoa and corn oil both have high quantities of natural antioxidants, specifically tocopherol[4] isomers, which makes them more stable[5] and less likely to become rancid, guaranteeing a longer shelf-life.
The high level of saturated fatty acids present in the oil make it an ideal candidate for cooking use.
The amount of oil in quinoa is relatively high compared with other cereal grains such as corn or wheat.