Combination of Chemical Tests and Kernel Morphological Traits Discriminated Variation among Durum Wheat Varieties

Many research findings have shown that the variation in response to chemical reaction of the aleurone layer of seeds is useful in differentiating or grouping of varieties. When seeds are exposed to certain chemicals, they develop a characteristic color depending on their chemical or metabolite constitutions. This color is a trait specific to a variety and the application of this property for the purpose of varietal characterization and identification has been well established in different crops. These chemical tests are simple to perform, quick and reproducible, relatively inexpensive, does not virtually require any specialized technical expertise. In this experiment, we have employed various simple and rapid chemical tests in conjunction with seed morphological characters for the identification of durum wheat varieties of Ethiopian origin.