OLIVE POLLEN STORAGE AND IN VITRO GERMINATION

Pollen was collected from three olive cultivars, ‘Manzanillo’, ‘Ascolano’ and ‘Mission’ and stored at -20°C for up to one year in controlled relative (RH) humidity environments. Pollen viability was tested using in vitro germination on solid-agar media. Pollen was very tolerant of minor variations in medium composition. Germination improved markedly with the addition of tetracycline to the medium. The pollen showed little loss in germinability over the storage period when stored either in sealed containers without regard to control of RH or at 28–33% RH. Pollen germinability was reduced at lower RH, and pollen death occurred rapidly at both higher RH and when the pollen was held at room temperature. Pollen viability was also tested using the fluorescein diacetate test. Germination data correlate very closely with results of fluorescein diacetate tests for pollen viability.