CONFIRMATION OF GRAIN AMARANTH (Amaranthus spp.) LANDRACES BY CANONICAL DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS

Abstract

Grain amaranth refers to three species of genus Amaranthus (Amaranthus cruentus, A. hypochondriacus, and A. caudatus), which show a high morphological diversity, which is why it is treated since the 1990s to differentiate landraces and to contribute to the breeding programs. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate 53 genotypes within the native landraces: Aztec, Mercado, Mixtec, Nepal (A. hypochondriacus), African, Guatemalan, Mexican (A. cruentus), and South American (A. caudatus) using morphological and phenological traits. INIFAP-CEVAMEX accessions were used and planted at Santa Lucía de Prías, México (2013 spring-summer growing cycle) in order to record phenological and morphological data. Seeds were digitalized and analysed on ImageTool. Then, the Mahalanobis distance, a canonical discriminant analysis using landraces as classificatory variable, a MANOVA, and a Tukey mean comparison for canonical roots were performed; all analyses were processed on SAS. The canonical discriminant analysis perfectly distinguished the landraces, which was grouped according to the species. The main traits to distinguish the groups for Canonical Root 1 were traits related to phenology and plant morphology; for Canonical Root 2, traits related to shape of the seed, and for Canonical Root 3, traits related to size of the seed. Classification by landraces of the Mexican species of grain amaranth may be an alternative for systematics, conservation, management, and germplasm ordination for crop improvement.