Phenotypic Relationships within 366 Quinoa Genotypes

The germplasm resources currently available to facilitate quinoa expansion worldwide are restricted to a small portion of quinoa’s total genetic diversity, in part because of physiological constraints (i.e. day-length sensitivity) and issues related to seed sovereignty.
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The objectives of this Project

This project aimed to characterize a quinoa world core collection and identify relationships between agronomic, morphological, and seed phenotypes. The collection, consisting of 366 accessions, was planted in Musanze, Rwanda during season B of 2020. Phenological stages, morphological data, and other phenotypic were recorded at different stages of growth. Photographs of inflorescences were captured and used to visually score morphology (i.e. shape, density, color, leafiness). Seed yield and thousand seed weight were measured, and seed phenotypes, consisting of nutritional composition, shape, size, and color were collected using a high-throughput phenotyping pipeline.
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Some Findings

Results from this study as well as the yield, protein content, amino acid composition, and mineral content will be presented in the upcoming research publications.