Climate smart Dry Chain Technology for safe storage of quinoa seeds

Abstract

Determination of seed vigor. Seeds were artificially aged in a climatic chamber (F.lli Della Marca S.r.l. Rome) by placing in seed vigor trays at 45 °C for 72 h. Relative humidity of the chamber was maintained at 95% during this incubation period 32. Following, accelerated aging, standard seed germination test was conducted as mentioned earlier. Measurement of electrical conductivity of seed leachates. From each replicate 50 seeds were counted, and their weight was recorded. Seeds were placed in glass beaker containing 250 ml distilled water of known EC. The glass beakers were covered with aluminum foil and then placed at 20 ± 2 °C for 24 h 31. After 24 h of soaking, conductivity readings (EC) were recorded with an electrical conductivity meter (HI 99,300). EC of per gram seed's leachates was calculated using equation following equation:

Desiccant drying prior to hermetic storage extends viability and reduces bruchid (Callosobruchus chinensis L.) infestation of mung bean (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek) seeds

“…In general, seeds must be dried to equilibrium with <70% r.h. to prevent fungal growth and to ~35% r.h. to prevent insect development (Roberts, 1972;Fontana, 2007;Bradford et al, 2018). In many tropical climates, ambient air-or sun-drying does not dry seeds sufficiently to prevent fungal or insect damage or loss of viability due to ageing during storage (Kunusoth et al, 2012;Bakhtavar et al, 2019;Bakhtavar and Afzal, 2020a;Guzzon et al, 2020). In addition, heated-air drying, which is widely used to dry seeds in temperate climates, is less efficient when the incoming air is warm and humid, limiting the extent of drying that can be achieved (Bradford et al, 2018).…”

Quinoa Phenotyping Methodologies: An International Consensus

“…In a recent study conducted at agro-climatic conditions of Pakistan, quality of quinoa seeds stored in hermetic bags at 8% initial seed moisture content is preserved in terms of higher germination and vigor and negligible seed deterioration compared with traditional storage under diverse ambient conditions. Rapid loss of seed viability in traditional porous bags was owing to moisture absorption from the ambient high relative humidity, which resulted in seed deterioration [231].…”

“…Quinoa seed of initial seed quality of 80% germination and 8% moisture content can be stored hermetically for six months without loss of viability under ambient conditions (25-40°C and 50-60% RH) while after one-year storage germination declines to 15% [231]. Quinoa seed maintains physiological quality for longer periods (up to 300 days) in impermeable packaging and under low temperature (4 ± 2°C) [232].…”

Trends and Limits for Quinoa Production and Promotion in Pakistan

“…During storage, seed moisture contents, relative humidity, and storage temperature are the main factors that determine the viability of quinoa and rate of deterioration [84,85]. Dry storage of seed for a short-term period preserves its biological value.…”