Dutchess

Quinoa

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Atlas', 'Jessie', 'Pasto' and 'Riobamba'

Summary: At 3 to 6 days after emergence, the anthocyanin colouration on the hypocotyl of ‘Dutchess' is of a medium intensity whereas the intensity of anthocyanin colouration on the hypocotyl of ‘Pasto' and ‘Riobamba' is strong. At the middle third of the main stem, ‘Dutchess' has stripes whereas ‘Pasto' has no stripes. The leaf axil on the stem of ‘Dutchess' has no anthocyanin colouration whereas that of ‘Pasto' has a medium intensity of anthocyanin colouration. The leaf margin of ‘Dutchess' has a medium number of indentations whereas the leaf margin of ‘Jessie' has a few indentations. The leaf of ‘Dutchess' has a medium degree of glaucosity whereas the glaucosity is weak for ‘Atlas', ‘Jessie' and ‘Riobamba'. The plants of ‘Dutchess' flower later than the plants of ‘Jessie' and flower earlier than the plants of ‘Atlas' and ‘Riobamba'. At full flowering, the plants of ‘Dutchess' are shorter than those of ‘Atlas' and taller than those of ‘Jessie' and ‘Pasto'. ‘Dutchess' has many female flowers per glomerule whereas those of ‘Atlas' and ‘Pasto' have a medium number of female flowers and that of ‘Riobamba' has a few female flowers. ‘Dutchess' is later maturing than ‘Jessie' and earlier maturing than ‘Atlas' and ‘Pasto'. At maturity, the seed head of ‘Dutchess' is yellow whereas that of ‘Riobamba' is orange. The seed of ‘Dutchess' is yellowish white whereas that of ‘Atlas', ‘Pasto' and ‘Riobamba' is brownish yellow. The thousand seed weight of ‘Dutchess' is greater than that of ‘Atlas', ‘Jessie', ‘Pasto' and ‘Riobamba'.

Description:

HYPOCOTYL: medium intensity of anthocyanin colouration
COTYLEDON: anthocyanin colouration absent

PLANT: weak tendency to branch, medium to tall at full flowering

STEM: green, stripes present on the middle third of main stem, anthocyanin colouration at leaf axil absent
LEAF: green, pigmentation of apex absent, widest part positioned at base, medium degree of glaucosity
LEAF MARGIN: undulated, medium number of indentations
PETIOLE: anthocyanin colouration absent

FLOWERING TIME: mid-season
INFLORESCENCE: matures mid-season, glomerulate type, angle of panicles approximately 45 degrees, short, many female flowers per glomerule, bracts equal in size to utricle, seed head yellow at maturity

SEED: smooth texture of seed coat, ellipsoid shape, yellowish white, saponin content absent

Origin & Breeding History: ‘Dutchess' (experimental designation Pasto offtype 4) originated from a cross between ‘Pasto', as the female parent, and an adjacent population of the varieties ‘Atlas' and ‘Riobamba' and other non bitter elite germplasm selections, as the male parent. The initial cross took place at the Stichting Wageningen Plant Research in Wageningen in the Netherlands in 2011. From a single F1 head harvested, F2 to the F4 families were selfed, evaluated and individual heads selected based on seed size, whiteness of seeds and grain yield from 2012 to 2014. F5 and F6 families were selfed and multiplied in a greenhouse in 2014 and 2015 where each was also assessed for uniformity of additional criteria such as leaf form and colour, flowering time, maturity and plant length. Breeder seed of was derived by bulking uniform F7 families selected in 2015.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial for ‘Dutchess' was conducted at the MacDonald Campus of McGill University in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec in 2023. There were 3 replicates per variety arranged in an RCB design. Plots were 13.3 square metres and consisted of 14 rows with a row length of 5 metres with 0.19 metres between rows. The seeding density of 174 plants per square metre resulted in at least 2300 plants per variety. Measured characteristics were based on 30 measurements per variety except for seed weight which was based on 3 measurements per variety. Mean differences were significant at the 5% probability level based on LSD values. Results were supported by the UPOV report of Technical Examination, reference number 4059716, purchased from The Community Plant Variety Office in Angers, France. The trial was conducted by Groupe d'Étude et de contrôle des Variétés Et des Semences, France at the Testing Station in Brion, France from 2016 to 2017.

Comparison tables for 'Dutchess' with reference varieties 'Atlas', 'Jessie', 'Pasto' and 'Riobamba'

Plant height at full flowering (from base to tip of inflorescence) (cm)

Days to maturity (number of days from sowing to when 50% of the plants are dried on the upper third of the plant)

Thousand seed weight (grams per 1000 seeds) (g)

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Quinoa: ‘Dutchess' (top left) with reference varieties ‘Jessie' (top right), ‘Atlas' (bottom right), ‘Riobamba' (bottom centre) and ‘Pasto' (bottom left)

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Quinoa: ‘Dutchess' (top left) with reference varieties ‘Jessie' (top right), ‘Atlas' (bottom right), ‘Riobamba' (bottom centre) and ‘Pasto' (bottom left)