Evaluation of Quantitative and Qualitative Characteristics of New Quinoa Genotypes in Spring Cultivation at Karaj

Abstract

Introduction Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Wild) is native to the Andean region of South America. Various genotypes of quinoa have a high diversity regarding different traits such as sensitivity to daylength, seed size and color, nutritional and anti - nutritional value of seeds, tolerance to biological and non - nutritional stresses. Considering the development goals of the quinoa, the need for new genotypes is very tangible. Fortunately, new genotypes of quinoa have become available that have not been studied domestically. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of these genotypes and to study their compatibility with spring cultivation in Karaj region. The results of this study provide the basis for deciding the next steps of research and development on these genotypes. Materials and Methods In this study, 13 new genotypes of quinoa including Atlas, EQ 101, EQ 102, EQ103, EQ104, EQ105, EQ106, Amiralla Marangani, Amiralla Sacaca, Blanka Dejunine, Kancolla, Salsada Inia and Rosada De Huncaya, have been studied in a randomized complete block design with three replications for two years (2018-2019) at Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj. Genotypes with the prefix EQ were obtained from Canada, Atlas genotype from the Netherlands and the rest of the genotypes from Peru. Each plot consisted of three rows with 500 cm length and 60 cm × 10 cm of plant density. The distances between replications and planting plots per replication were 180 cm and 200 cm. Data were analyzed using SAS software and means were compared using the least significant difference (LSD) at the 5% level (P = 0.05). Results and Discussion The results showed that all traits except days to germination were significantly affected by genotype. However, plant height, inflorescence length, stem diameter, oil percentage and days to maturity did not affect by genotype interaction per year. The effect of year was also significant for grain yield, days to pollination, saponin content and oil percentage. Different origin (from Peru, Canada and the Netherlands) and different morphological characteristics of the studied genotypes caused significant differences in different traits. The EQ101 genotype, showed the highest grain yield and plant height, highest protein content and the lowest amount of saponin. While Marangani genotype with an average yield of 796.78 kg ha-1 had the lowest yield. EQ103 was the earliest and Marangani, Kancolla, Rosada and Salsada genotype were the late genotypes, respectively. On the other hand, EQ105 genotype revealed the highest seed oil content. Marangani genotype had the thickest shoot among all genotypes. Canadian Genotypes have lower levels of saponin than Peruvian genotypes. EQ101 with saponin content of 0.48 mg g-1 (0.04%) had the lowest saponin content and among the studied genotypes in this study, it is the only genotype that belong to sweet quinoa cultivars. Conclusions The studied genotypes demonstrated significant diversity and differences in all studied traits. In some traits, the difference between the two groups of genotypes (Canadian or Peruvian) was quite obvious. In this study all quinoa genotypes were compatible with spring cultivation in Karaj region. Genotypes compatible with spring (long day) cultivation usually do not have a problem with summer and autumn cultivation and will most likely be cultivated in all seasons and regions of the country.

Keywords

• saponin
• seed yield
• spring planting