Abstract

The standard germination tests have been commonly used on commercial grain crops, such as soybean, field beans, rice and maize. However, there are no standard tests for potential new crops; quinoa being one of them. This work is aimed at evaluating the effect of substrate, temperature and counting time in seed germination of quinoa. The following treatments were used in tests with seeds: on blotter paper, between blotter paper, on sand and within sand, all previously soaked with distilled water. These substrates were combined to the temperatures of 15, 20, 25, 30°C, and alternated between 20 to 30°C. The experiment was conducted on an entirely randomized factorial design 5 × 4 (temperature × substrate) with 4 repetitions. Normal seedlings, abnormal seedlings and dead seeds were counted until stabilized. The germination velocity index and mean time for germination were calculated.  From the results, it was concluded that germination test of quinoa seeds should be conducted at 20 to 30°C alternate temperatures, on or between blotter paper, with initial count at 2 days and final count at 4 days.

Key words: Chenopodium quinoa willd., substrate temperature, counting time, seed viability.