Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd, 2n=36) is an annual crop belonging to the genus Chenopodium in Amaranthaceae, and originated from the Titicaca lake of the Andes region in the South America. Due to its high nutritional values and adapted tolerance to various abiotic stresses, quinoa was considered a crop with high application potential, but improvement is still needed for the development and utilization of crop. Therefore it attains the attention of biological scientists and breeders. In recent years, with the pursuit of better health and higher quality of life, the consuming of quinoa grains has increased dramatically. Cultivation and breeding of quinoa has received more attention to ensure global food security as well. On the basis of our multiple years of experience in quinoa germplasm collection which were evolution from Andes region, the focus of this review is on the nutritional quality and application of quinoa, species origination and evolution, domestication by human, and genetic breeding progress and trends, so that a better understanding of quinoa values can be achieved. We aim to help increase farmers’ income in poverty areas and ensure national food security by promoting development of quinoa industry in China.