Amaranth

Amaranth is a seed that has been part of the Aztec diet for more than 8000 years, when the Aztecs would collect the seeds in the wild. They also used the seeds to make flour for baked images of their gods during festivals and for tributary payments. The plant began to be cultivated in Mexico approximately 4000 B.C.E. and continues to be a native Peruvian crop.

The production of molasses was developed in India in approximately 500 B.C.E.  Arab invaders brought the product to Spain, and a century later it came to the West Indies with Christopher Columbus. The British began cultivating sugar cane in Barbados in 1646, and by the end of the century molasses was a commodity. It is not clear when blackstrap molasses was first used for human consumption.