Abstract

In Chile, two quinoa ecotypes are grown: salares, also present in the highlands of Bolivia, and coastal, in central and southern areas of the country, at sea level. Genotypes from the coastal ecotype have characteristics that differentiate them from the most popular quinoa genotypes grown in the Andean Region of South America. The objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the cardinal temperatures for seed germination in quinoa genotypes from coastal and salares ecotypes cultivated in Chile, and (2) to study the presence of physiological dormancy (PD) in these genotypes. Seed germination from nine quinoa genotypes, two from salares and seven from coastal ecotypes, was evaluated in a gradient of temperatures between 11 and 42 degrees C. Germination was also evaluated at 20 degrees C at 0, 7 and 15 months from harvest. Results showed that seed from the nine genotypes germinated at their maximum percentage between 11 and 35 degrees C. However, their faster germination occurred between 25 and 35 degrees C. There was a significant difference between optimum temperature for germination between genotypes from coastal (28 degrees C) and salares (30 degrees C). An increase in germination rates after 7 months of storage suggested the presence of a non-deep PD in seeds from coastal ecotype, which may be useful to improve pre-harvest sprouting resistance in quinoa breeding programmes.