Quinoa is an ancestral crop in the Andean region, characterized by its adaptability to different agroclimatic conditions, great nutritional value, and broad genetic variability. A preliminary approach for understanding the genetics of quinoa materials entails a morphologic characterization, which can provide the basis for the selection of materials that satisfy the needs of farmers and consumers. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the phenotypic characteristics of thirty genetic C. quinoa accessions for the selection of outstanding accessions in terms of yield and grain quality. A randomized complete block design was used, with nine replications for each accession under greenhouse conditions. Nine quantitative and twelve qualitative descriptors were evaluated with descriptive analysis, Spearman correlation variance, and multivariate and cluster analysis. The results showed that the accessions with heights greater than the average (>176.72 cm) and long panicles (>57.94 cm) presented lower yields and smaller seed sizes, thus decreasing the grain quality. The multivariate and cluster analyses established groups of accessions with good yields (>62.02 g of seeds per plant) and stable morphological characteristics. The proposed selection index, based on yield components and morphological descriptors, indicated four accessions as potential parents for quinoa breeding programs in Colombia.

La quinua (Chenopodium quinoa Wild.) es un cultivo de grano que se cultiva en la región de los Andes desde los valles centrales de Colombia hasta la zona sur de Chile. En Colombia, es un cultivo de pequeña escala, donde el conocimiento de su variabilidad es reducido. Dentro de este contexto, esta investigación tuvo como objetivo principal realizar una caracterización morfológica a 19 materiales de quinua en el departamento de Boyacá utilizando 27 descriptores morfológicos. La estimación de la variación morfológica se hizo mediante el análisis de correlación, componentes principales y conglomerados. Los resultados muestran que los coeficientes de variación más altos se encontraron en los caracteres cuantitativos. Los análisis de componentes principales explicaron más del 70% de la variación observada siendo las características presencia y color de axilas, presencia y color de estrías, altura de la planta, número de panojas, rendimiento de semillas por planta y peso de 1000 granos. Los conglomerados mostraron una distribución laxa de todos los individuos evaluados con rendimientos y peso de grano promedios, y la relación entre la quinua y la especie relacionada kiwicha. La caracterización morfológica de estos materiales pone de manifiesto la existencia de variabilidad que puede ser utilizada en programas de conservación y mejoramiento genético de la especie en el departamento de Boyacá.

Chenopodium quinoa Willd. is an Andean crop with great nutritional value, economic potential, and a broad genetic and phenotypic diversity with adaptation to different conditions.In Colombia, C. quinoa is cultivated mainly in Cundinamarca, Nariño and Boyacá, where studies have been conducted to characterize the germplasm and lack of seed materials, some challenges for the quinoa crop. This work assessed agromorphological characteristics of 50 quinoa genotypes from the germplasm collection of Boyacá the using a completely randomized design on the farm in Tunja. The multivariate analysis followed by a clustering approach were conducted on agromorphological descriptors, in which 16 were qualitative descriptors (e.g, panicle shape, episperm color, leaf shape) and five quantitative descriptors (e.g, plant height, panicle number). The results showed that higher coefficients of variation were found in characteristics associated to yield. The principal component analysis (PCA) of the quantitative variables showed that the first two components explained 88 % of the total variation with the characteristics of plant height, length, diameter, and panicle number showing the highest variability. The quantitative characteristic clusters comprised length and diameter panicle, weight 1,000 seeds, and plant height, while the qualitative characteristic clusters comprised stem shape, branching habit, panicle shape, and color of the axils. The factorial analysis of mixed data discriminated the materials with outstanding morphoagronomic characteristics.Agromorphological characterization revealed a broad variability, which should be conserved and used in genetic improvement programs of C. quinoa.

Yellow pitahaya is an exotic fruit that is rich in essential nutrients and antioxidants. In Colombia, it grows naturally in warm areas, but it is not clear which species exist because this genus presents a lot of intra and interspecific hybridization. More studies are needed in this field along with characterizations of the genotypes. This study aimed to undertake an in situ morphoagronomic evaluation of yellow pitahaya genotypes from five municipalities in Boyacá, Colombia. Measurements were taken in a completely random design. Qualitative and quantitative descriptors for cladodes, fruits and covered production systems were evaluated with a descriptive analysis, Spearman correlation variance, and multivariate and cluster analysis. The results showed that cladode characteristics such as cladode width, distance between areoles, number of spines, length of areoles, margin ribs of cladode and waxiness could be used to identify Megalanthus spp. Characteristics such as weight (270–274 g), size (100 mm), color of the fruit and pulp as well as acidity (0.18) and soluble solids (15.7) were highly variable between the genotypes. Genotypes with good morphological and fruit characteristics were identified (Gen2 and Gen9), which can provide the bases for the selection of pitahaya that satisfy the needs of farmers and consumers.

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