Investigation of Suitable Storing Methods of Date Palm Inflorescence and Pollen

This research has been done in a completely randomized design and using a factorial experiment with three 3 replications in Date palm and Tropical Fruits Research Center in Ahwaz for two years (2018-2019) to evaluate different methods of date pollen grain maintenance. Factors include type of pollen (fresh pollen, dry pollen, fresh strands, dry strands, and full male spahte cv. Ghannamy, storage environment (room temperature, refrigerator (+4 degrees Celsius) and freezer (-20 degrees Celsius)) and storage time (3, 6, 9 and 12 months). Germination test of pollen grains is performed in liquid culture medium containing 8% sucrose and 50 mg l-1boric acid using a light microscope. Results show that the interaction effects of storage environment× type of pollen and storage environment × storage time on pollen viability have been very significant and dried pollen and dried strand pollen in freezer and refrigerator and during storage period of about one year have given the most appropriate results. Fresh pollen, fresh strand pollen, and whole spahte pollen, due to their high humidity content, lost their viability in a short time. Therefore, in order to preserve the pollen and maintain its vigor and viability in the long run, it is absolutely necessary to dry the strands or pollen in order to reduce their moisture content and increase their shelf life.