Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Metaxenic effects as related to male palm (Phoenix dactylifera and Phoenix canariensis), yield and quality of Khalas fruit

Author(s):

Alaa El-Din Khalil Omar ^{1, 2}*, Rashed Sultan Al-Obeed ¹, Mahmoud Abd El-Aziz Ahmed ^{1, 3}

Recieved Date: 2014-01-26, Accepted Date: 2014-04-18

Abstract:

In order to get satisfactory fruit set, yield and fruit quality, different sources of pollen are required, palm growers said. Direct effect of pollens on date’s quality was reported in many studies ^{5, 18, 21}. This study was carried out in two successive seasons (2011 and 2012) on six female date palms, cv. Khalas (Phoenix dactylifera L.), grown in the Agricultural Experimental and Research Station-Dirab, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On each female palm (10 inflorescences/female), five inflorescences of the same age and almost equal in size were labelled and hand pollinated from Phoenix dactylifera, by placing male pollen strands (8 strands) within each female inflorescence. The other five female inflorescences (same age and almost equal in size) were hand pollinated from Phoenix canariensis by placing the same number of male. Results showed that bunches pollinated by pollen from Phoenix canariensis recorded the highest values in most parameters of ‘Khalas’ fruit quality. In addition, fruit were ripening two weeks earlier. On the other hand, bunches pollinated by pollen from Phoenix dactylifera palm recorded the highest fruit set, seed weight, acidity and fruit moisture content. This variation in results can help in male selection, and may present the importance of Phoenix canariensis as pollinator to improve yield, fruit quality and early fruit ripening.

Keywords:

Phoenix dactylifera, Phoenix canariensis, metaxenia, fruit quality

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2014
Volume: 12
Issue: 2
Category: Agriculture
Pages: 523-525

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