Climate Change: Challenge of Introducing Quinoa in Southeast European Agriculture

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to describe the potential effects of climate changes in Southeast European (SEE) countries, and the implications on agricultural production. Adaptation measures to mitigate these effects could be to introduce new crops tolerant to various stress factors, such as drought, saline soils, and varying temperatures. Quinoa is a plant that has great potential for growing in such unfavorable conditions. In the presented review, we explain the origin, importance, and application of quinoa in agriculture with special emphasis on its nutritional and health significance as well as the mechanisms of resistance to stress factors. The opportunities for quinoa breeding in SEE are presented on the basis of data from Greece, Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Turkey, varying depending on local agroclimatic conditions. The nutritional composition of the quinoa seeds is of very high value also when grown under rain-fed conditions in Serbia. There were good results from adding quinoa to wheat bread. Conclusions are that although the quinoa market in SEE is not as large as in other European countries, it is growing very intensively, and the food industry is developing new quinoa products. Thus, the prospects for future quinoa production in SEE countries are promising. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021