Seed Germplasm Conservation with Modified Atmosphere Storage in Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.)

Abstract

Amaranth is a popular leafy vegetable in the tropics. It is grown for edible leaves and cooked as vegetable. Seeds are also used for grain purposes. Wide genetic diversity of amaranth occurs in India and the crop is mainly propagated through the seeds. Amaranth seeds are short-lived under ambient conditions (Aufhammer et ai., 1998) and seed viability is largely dependent on storage conditions (Popovska et al., 1981).