Quinoa has been cultivated in the Andes Mountains for thousands of years, growing three to six feet tall despite high altitudes, intense heat, freezing temperatures, and as little as four inches of annual rainfall. Peru and Bolivia maintain seed banks with 1,800 types of quinoa.
Seeds range in color from pink and orange to blue-black, purple, and red.
However, once their natural saponin coating is washed off, the seeds are pale yellow. Rabbi Blau consulted with professors at the Vulcan Institute and ruled quinoa to be Kosher L'Pesach. Rabbi Blau told Rabbi Tendler that quinoa is not related to the five types of grain , nor to millet or rice. It does not grow in the vicinity of the five types of grain . Consumers are urged to carefully check grains before Pesach for extraneous matter.