Abstract:
To identify drought tolerance of different types of quinoa at germination stage, polyethylene glycol(PEG-6000) solution was used to simulate drought stress, and 0, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% concentration gradients were used to analyze the changes of related indexes under different degrees of drought conditions. The effect of drought stress on the germination process of quinoa was reflected by Logistic equation fitting, and the differences of morphological and physiological indexes during germination were analyzed. Finally, the drought resistance of different quinoa varieties was comprehensively evaluated by principal component analysis and membership function method. The results showed as follows: 1)Low concentration of PEG-6000 could promote the germination of quinoa seeds, but it could inhibit the germination when the concentration exceeded the appropriate range; 2)High concentration of PEG-6000 could reduce the germination rate and prolong the germination time of quinoa seeds; 3)Under normal and drought stress, the germination rate of quinoa increased with time in an “S-shaped” curve, which could be fitted by Logistic equation, and the fitting effect was better; 4)The trend of antioxidant enzymes in 5 quinoa cultivars was not inconsistent, and superoxide dismutase(SOD) and peroxidase(POD) decreased gradually with the increase of drought stress. Catalase(CAT), malondialdehyde(MDA), proline(Pro), soluble sugar(SS) and soluble protein(SP) related to osmotic regulation firstly increased and then decreased with the increase of drought stress; 5)According to the comprehensive evaluation of principal component analysis and membership function method, the drought resistance of the three quinoa varieties at germination stage was from strong to weak in the order of black quinoa>white quinoa>red quinoa.