Fig. 3

Starch and sucrose metabolism was activated during quinoa seed germination. A The model and key components of starch and sucrose metabolism in plant. The highlight boxes indicated the metabolites quantified from the GC–MS results. Glucose-6-P, glucose-6-phosphate. Sucrose-6-P, sucrose-6-phosphate. Fructose-6-P, fructose-6-phosphate. B Heatmap analysis of DEGs involved in starch and sucrose metabolism. C qRT-PCR analysis of three genes encoding enzymes involved in starch and sucrose metabolism, CqINVB, CqBAM3 and CqFRK4, and CqSUT1 encoding sucrose-proton symporter in first two stages of quinoa seed germination. Values are means ± SD (n = 3). *** P < 0.001, Student's t-test. D Analysis of changes of the represented metabolites in starch and sucrose metabolism during quinoa seed germination, including starch, sucrose, glucose, glucose-6-P, fructose and fructose-6-P. Values are means of three independent experiments ± SD, indicated the relative content of target metabolites based on the peak area