Abstract

Recent studies are increasingly focusing on quinoa (Chenopodium (prima) as a high-quality protein-rich food source and, in general, on seed quality. This latter is a complex trait difficult to characterize with standard measurements or analyses.X-ray micro-CT allows to visualise the internal structure of small objects and has been already used in seed research, mostly for maize kernel characterization. To date this technique has not yet been applied to study quinoa seeds, despite the increasing interest for their nutritional properties.The aim of this work was to explore the use of X-ray microtomography to provide new traits improving the seed phenotyping of quinoa. Two different scanning approaches have been compared: one based on the simultaneous scanning of multiple seeds (30) at lower resolution (20 mu m voxel size) and one based on the scanning of a single seed at higher resolution (2 mu m voxel size). Such approaches were tested on a study case consisting of four different quinoa genotypes.Among the measured morpho-densitometric parameters, the embryo volume and weight ratios (derived from bulk and single seed scanning, respectively) showed high positive correlation with the total protein content, while the thickest fraction of the pericarp was the best correlated with the presence of saponins.

Keywords

X-ray micro-CT; Quinoa; Seed quality; 3D image analysis

Published in

Journal of Cereal Science
2019, Volume: 90, article number: 102829
Publisher: ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

SLU Authors

• Grimberg, Åsa

  • Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Carlsson, Anders

  • Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcs.2019.102829

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/103070