Pollen viability and in vitro germination of six pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) cultivars grown in northern Jordan

This study was conducted on six pistachio cultivars (Lazaourdi, Nab-El Jamal, Boundiki, Batouri, Marawhi and Aschouri) to investigate the percentage of pollen viability and in vitro pollen germination under stored and non-stored (fresh) conditions. The results indicated that there was a significant interaction between pollen viability of pistachio cultivars and storage period. This study showed that the non-stored (fresh) pollen of cultivars Batouri and Lazaourdi had significantly the highest viability (87%) and in vitro pollen germination (69.7%), respectively; indicating that such cultivars could be used as best pollinators. On the other hand, cultivar Nab-El Jamal had the lowest viability (43.7%) and in vitro pollen germination (40.3%). It was found that pollen viability for all stored pollen cultivars were significantly reduced by 30% when compared with non-stored (fresh) pollen. However, stored pollen germination for one month was zero for all pistachio cultivars. In addition, the results of viability for all fresh pollen cultivars were poorly linearly correlated (r2=0.149) with the results of in vitro germination of fresh pollen. Further research is required to examine both pollen viability and in vitro pollen germination under different short and long-term storage periods and methods.