VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION OF CHENOPODIUM QUINOA BY SHOOT TIP CULTURE

An in vitro procedure is described for vegetative propagation of two varieties of Chenopodium quìnoa. Shoot tips of seedlings and adult plants were stimulated to produce multiple shoots by axillary branching in a B5 medium modified by decreasing sucrose (10 g/l), increasing nitrate (2,700 mg/l) and phosphate (315 mg/l) salts, and to which glycine was added (4 mg/l). This modified medium was supplemented with benzyladenine (0.22 mg/l) and naphthaleneacetic acid (0.018 mg/l). These conditions allowed development of more than twice the average number of shoots per culture as did the non-modified B5 medium. Absence of exogenous growth substances stimulated shoot elongation and rooting more effectively than auxins or gibberellic acid added to the medium. Rooted plants, transferred to a greenhouse, grew to 2 m at the flowering stage.