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Comment by jsnk | Hacker News Reader

Unlike vegetable and fruits, how quinoa looks probably doesn't matter to consumers at all. Given this is the case, selection criteria will focus more on nutrition numbers which they can advertise easily (20g OF PROTEIN!!!) than looks.

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How does that explain white rice vs. brown rice preferences, or glutinous rice vs longgrain, etc.

People have preferences for some characteristics in something which would seem to be very ordinary.

Maybe quinoa is different, but who knows, at this point. Maybe it's like oats. Oats are oats are oats, for most people, I think (except for the cutting vs rolling process)

I am not attempting to explain why every kind of food is selected for certain criteria for whatever reason. I am not also saying that you either select to for looks or nutrition. It's a matter of degree and compromise between different criteria. For quinoa particularly, I think it happens to be a type of food that largely guides people's preference based on nutrition rather than looks.

I expect quinoa will be selected for environmental tolerance first. Given how difficult it is to grow in th US, top priority would be getting consistent high yield in North American conditions. Breeding has to meet the farmer's needs before you start considering the consumer.

I had not thought about that perspective, but that makes a lot of sense. Thanks!

brown rice tastes bad and has anti-nutrients that block absorption of B vitamins and minerals like magnesium

Not sure about the anti-nutrients, but the 'tastes bad' part is entirely subjective. I prefer brown rice, and I think it tastes fine.

at any rate, it tastes very perceptibly different from white rice.

True, so unless the quinoa is the same (flavor, texture, cooking, etc) across different varieties, people might prefer lower yield vars or nutritionally poorer varieties.

> brown rice tastes bad

To you, maybe. I prefer it, mainly because it has a taste, especially compared to white rice.

Also, trying to live on white rice can lead to beriberi because white rice, shorn of the husk, bran, and germ, is vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficient: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beriberi

> has anti-nutrients that block absorption of B vitamins and minerals like magnesium

This is the first I've heard of this.

This source seems to contradict it:

http://web.mit.edu/athletics/sportsmedicine/wcrvitamins.html

> THIAMIN (B1)

> Food Sources

> Fortified breakfast cereal or wheat germ breakfast cereal, soybeans, peanuts, sunflower seeds, peanuts, brazil nuts, whole grains, pork, oatmeal, whole wheat, hazelnuts, brown rice, rye, pinto beans, red beans, millet, buckwheat, frozen peas, walnuts, garlic, pumpkin seeds, potatoes, chicken.

This source also doesn't mention it, and it's all about the nutritional deficiencies of rice, including brown rice:

http://www.ask.com/explore/negative-nutritional-value-rice-5...

The closest it comes is a warning about inhibiting the uptake of zinc and iron. In fact, it explicitly calls out the vitamin B content of brown rice as being very good, especially compared to white rice.