Experts have now discovered a way of manipulating the quinoa plant changing the way it matures and produces food to make the bitter seeds sweeter.

Researchers from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology sequenced the Chenopodium quinoa genome, creating the world's highest quality quinoa sequence which has already yielded insights into the plant's traits.

Professor of Plant Science Mark Tester, who led the project team, said: "Quinoa was the staple 'Mother Grain' that fuelled the ancient Andean civilisations, but the crop was marginalised when the Spanish arrived in South America and has only recently been revived as a new crop of global interest.

"This means quinoa has never been fully domesticated or bred to its full potential even though it provides a more balanced source of nutrients for humans than cereals."

Prof Tester and his team say there is potential for the genome sequence to modify the quinoa plant for more widespread commercial use.