Abstract

Digital morphometric analysis is the future in developing and integrating new technologies into multifaceted systems of plant biology. This method can be used in crop science, including the external parameters of the seeds. The linear dimensions and shape of the seeds are important indicators of their quality. Therefore, by measuring and analyzing the linear dimensions of the seeds, having determined their shape, a preliminary conclusion can be made about their sowing qualities. Based on this, the morphometric parameters of the seeds of 8 varieties of chives were studied during 2019 at the bio-collection of VNIIO, Federal State Budget Scientific Institution, Federal Scientific Research Center (Moscow Region) by digital scanning and computer image analysis. Seeds of varieties Medonos and Chemal, Siberian subspecies (subsp. sibiricum (L.) Hartm.) and Vostochny subspecies (subsp. alpinum DC.) of the 2017 crop; varieties Mudrets and Prazsky Krayova, varieties from the South Ural Botanical Garden Institute of the UFIC RAS (UUBSI UFIC RAS) and the Kuzbass Botanical Garden (KuzBS) FSBIU “FITS UUH SB RAS” - 2018 crop. Plants 34 years of age. The morphometric and optical parameters of the seeds were measured using the Video Tes T-Morphology software (Argus-BIO) produced by ArgusSoft Ltd, St. Petersburg (Russia). Morphometric analysis of the seeds of various chive varieties showed a significant difference in their linear parameters, shape indices, brightness and color characteristics: projection area (2.39…3,06 mm), perimeter (6.25…7.15 mm), length (2.62…3.04 mm), width (1.27.1.47 mm), average size (1.97.2.24 mm), circle factor (0.73.0.77 unit), roundness (0.43.0.78 unit), elongation (1.99.2.21 unit), average brightness (47.7.61.6 unit), brightness deviation (22.5.40.4 unit), color components of red, green and blue according to the RGB model. The high accuracy of measurements over a wide range of morphometric parameters makes it possible not only to analyze ecologically and metrically different-quality seeds in the future, but also to be successfully used to solve botanical problems in plant taxonomy, including the external features of the seed.