Ecogeographic structure of phenotypic diversity in cultivated populations of quinoa from Northwest Argentina

A set of 34 quinoa populations from the Northwest Argentina region was characterised using quantitative and qualitative phenotypic traits in an experiment conducted in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. A selection of quinoa descriptors from the Bioversity International (former IBPGR) list was applied, and data were analyzed using descriptive and multivariate techniques. Morphological and phenological traits variation was observed among accessions collected in contrasted ecogeographic zones of this Andean region. On the basis of quantitative traits, both the principal component analysis and the Cluster Analysis differentiated between accessions from the highlands, transition zone, central dry valleys and eastern valleys. On the other hand, the principal coordinates analysis based on qualitative traits only discriminated accessions from transition zone and eastern valleys. The correlation between both characterisations was fairly low suggesting that individual characterisations offer information that can be complementary. The accessions from the highlands and dry valleys presented the more advanced domesticated traits, while accessions from transition zone and eastern valleys showed traits more similar to wild-type related Chenopods from the Andean region. These differences are discussed on the basis of previous hypotheses about the domestication and crop diffusion processes from the southern Andes suggested for this species.