CUTTING POSITION ON THE QUALITY OF AMAZONIAN SPINACH (Alternanthera sessilis (L.) R.Br. ex DC.) SEEDLINGS

Brazil has a great biodiversity of unconventional food plants, such as spinach from the Amazon, an underutilized species, highly adaptable and with enormous food potential. The objective of this work was to evaluate the cutting position on the quality of Amazonian spinach (Alternanthera sessilis (L.) R.Br. ex DC.) seedlings. The experiment was carried out in the experimental garden of the Federal University of Acre under greenhouse conditions, from October to November 2022. The experimental design was completely randomized, with three treatments and ten replications, totaling 30 experimental units. Cuttings were collected from stem segments harvested from three positions along the shoot of mature donor plants: the lower third (LT), middle third (MT), and upper third (UT). There was a significant difference for stem diameter, leaf length, total number of shoots, shoot fresh mass, shoot dry mass, total fresh mass. There was no statistical difference for seedling quality index. Regardless of the part of the plant used as propagation material for the species, there was no difference in the quality of seedling formation. All seedlings produced, regardless of the part of the plant used, presented high quality and complete formation.