Abstract: Quinoa has been vigorously promoted and growed in recent years attributed to its nutritional and health effects on the human body. Quinoa seeds are rich in all the nutrients human body needed,and have abundant secondary metabolites with good biological activity(antioxidation,bacteriostatic,hypoglycemic,anti-inflammatory,immune response),which make quinoa have good benefit to human health in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease,weight loss,diabetes,etc. This research introduces the distribution of quinoa plant resources,the composition of nutrients and active substances,as well as physiological activities,development and utilization,so as to provide reference value for the development and utilization of quinoa as food.