Chenopodium quinoa Willd. A new cash crop halophyte for saline regions of Egypt

Abstract

A prerequisite for sustainable saline agriculture of cash crop halophytes in salt affected areas implies exact knowledge of their limits of salinity resistance. Hence, the first part of this study was carried out in pot experiment under greenhouse conditions to evaluate growth and seed yield of C. quinoa Willd. cv. Hualhuas to varying water salinity levels (0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mM NaCl). The limit of salinity resistance was estimated at 200 mM NaCl (~20 dSm -1 ) based on seed yield production. Depending on the results obtained from pot experiment, field trials were conducted in saline soil location (ECe 17.9 dSm -1 ) and in non-saline soil location (ECe 1.9 dSm -1 ). Seed yield significantly decreased under saline soil by about 61.7% . Beside quantity, soil salinity led to reduce the percentage of moisture, total carbohydrate and total fat contents in seeds. Salinity did not significantly alter the protein content in quinoa seeds. Significant increases in the content of ash and fiber were detected in response to high soil salinity. The high er ash content in seeds under saline conditions was due to the increase of Na + as well as K + , P 3-and Fe ++ concentrations. By contrast, soil salinity led to significant decrease of Ca ++ and Zn ++ contents in seed. Energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis showed that most of Na + in the seeds produced at saline soil was mainly accumulated in the pericarp followed by embryo tissues, while, the interior reserving tissue (perisperm) exhibiting comparatively low concentration. Increasing most of essential minerals, especially Fe, in quino a seeds produced under high saline conditions given quinoa a distinctive value for human consumption. Quinoa can be grown and yielded successfully in salt-affected soils (ECe 17.9 dSm -1 ), where, most if not all of traditional crops cannot grow, although the yield was reduced however, the seed quality was not highly affected.

Evaluation of Some Chenopodium Quinoa Cultivars Under Saline Soil Conditions in Egypt

“…However, in the present work the protein percentage in quinoa seed produced under high saline conditions recorded 13.5% for CICA cultivar and 12.8% for Real, and these percentages are almost high in comparison to most of cereals. Soil salinity did not influence on protein content of Peruvian cultivar Hualhuas (Eisa et al 2017). Also, (Wu et al 2016) reported that increasing NaCl concentrations up to 32 dS m -1 did not alter protein content in quinoa seeds.…”

Quinoa Abiotic Stress Responses: A Review

“…The optimal salinity conditions for quinoa growth are between 100 to 200 mM NaCl [123,124,125]. Plant seedling and germination stages are the most sensitive to salinity, even for halophytes [126,127].…”

Healthy and Resilient Cereals and Pseudo-Cereals for Marginal Agriculture: Molecular Advances for Improving Nutrient Bioavailability

“…It can tolerate a wide range of temperatures (from −8°C to 35°C), but high temperature above 35°C during flowering results in a significant reduction in seed set and ultimately yield (Jacobsen et al, 2005). For example, studies in Italy (Pulvento et al, 2010), Morocco (Hirich et al, 2014), Germany (Präger et al, 2018), Portugal (Pires, 2017), India (Bhargava et al, 2006a), Egypt (Eisa et al, 2017), Mauritania (Bazile et al, 2016), and the United States (Peterson and Murphy, 2015;Walters et al, 2016) have reported that high temperatures reduce quinoa seed yield.…”