Biología floral de la quinua (Chenopodium quinoa)

Abstract

The knowledge of the floral biology of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is of basic importance in breeding. The project was aimed to clarify some aspects, such as percentage of flowers of different sex; time of maturity of stamens and stigmas; occurrence of floral aberrations and pollinator agents. The study was carried out in two locations in Peru, San Mateo, 3200 m high, complemented with progeny studies in Huancayo, at 3300 m. From the germoplasm bank of the IAIAS-Andean Zone, 40 introductions from Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador were studied, checking around eleven thousand flowers. Females, hermaphrodites and male-steriles were registered, no staminate type was observed. The percentage of the different types varied according to the introductions, independently of geographic origin. Three groups could be separated: the first consisted of six cultivars with dominant pistillate flowers and some male-sterile; in this group, gynomonoecism is prevalent and the few hermaphrodite flowers with very few polen grains indicate a tendency to male sterility. The second group, with three cultivars, has almost 100 per cent of hermaphrodite flowers. The third group is intermediate, with its 31 cultivars belonging to either the first or second group, according to the proportion of pistillated or hermaphrodite flowers. Observations were conducted on different processes; stage of development in anthers and stigmas, protogine and proterandry. Several floral aberrations were found and the possible pollinators detected. Finally, the main characteristics of agronomic value for a breeding program are given.

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