AUTHOR=Manjarres Hernández Elsa Helena , Morillo Coronado Ana Cruz , Cárdenas Chaparro Agobardo , Merchán López Claudia 

TITLE=Yield, phenology and triterpene saponins in Colombian quinoa

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2022.919885

DOI=10.3389/fsufs.2022.919885

ISSN=2571-581X

ABSTRACT=Exploring yield, phenology and their relationship with secondary metabolites in seeds provides a fundamental analysis that expands knowledge on the nutritional quality of seeds and the effect on productive potential. This knowledge is fundamental when improving or selecting nutritionally important crops, including Chenopodium quinoa Willd, which has excellent nutritional properties and contributes to global food security. This species contains saponins, a metabolite that imparts a bitter taste and can be highly toxic to consumers in large quantities. Therefore, the identification and selection of genotypes according to their saponin contents and outstanding agronomic characteristics are fundamental objectives for the genetic improvement programs of this species.  Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the characteristics of the grain and the phenology and to quantify the saponin content of 30 C. quinoa accessions in a particular environment to select genotypes according to their yield and grain quality. The accessions were sown using random complete blocks (RCB) with nine repetitions for each material. Seven FAO-defined descriptors were evaluated to characterize the grain and physiological maturity. The saponin concentration was determined with microwave extraction, and the quantification was done with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).  The accessions were classified according to their phenology: semi-late (56.7%), late (36.7%), and semi-precocious (3.3%). A significant variation for the saponin content was observed between the accessions. The total saponin content varied from 0.018 to 0.537%.  The multivariate and cluster analyses formed groups of accessions with good yields (>62.02 grams of seeds per plant) and desirable grain morphological characteristics. The more suitable accessions for the production of saponins are Quinua semiamarga, Quinua Peruana and Amarilla de Maranganí. Quinua real and Quinua primavera are more suitable for food, which can be used as parents in future quinoa genetic improvement programs in Colombia.