González, Juan A.; Sebastián E. Buedo; Marcela Bruno; Fernando E. Prado. 2017. "Quantifying Cardinal Temperaturas in Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) Cultivars". Lilloa 54 (2). Seed germination and plant growth are affected by temperature. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of temperature on seed germination of ten quinoa cultivars under a temperature gradient between 8 ºC and 50 ºC. The time course of germination was fitted using a logistic function. Aborted seeds and non-germinated seeds were also analyzed as function of temperature gradient. Cardinal temperatures were estimated by regression of the inverse time to 50% germination (germination rate) against temperature gradient. The minimum (T min), optimum (T opt) and maximum (T max) temperatures for seed germination were determined using both linear (bilinear model) and polynomial (quadratic and cubic models) regressions. Based on T opt estimated from bilinear and cubic models, quinoa seeds can be grouped into two subgroups: one represented by Kancolla, Chucapaca, Kamiri, Robura and Sajama cultivars with values of T opt £ 33 ºC, and other represented by CICA, Sayaña, Amilda, Ratuqui and Samaranti with T opt values 33 ºC, respectively. Percentages of maximum cumulative germination calculated from the quadratic model were closely similar to those obtained in germination trials.