Effect of Storage Method on Date Palm and Pistachio Pollen Viability

This study was conducted on date palm and pistachio to establish short-, mid- and long-term pollen storagetechnique. pollen was stored in room temperature (24 oc±2), refrigerator (4oc), freezer (-5oc), and cryogenicstorage (immersing 15 minutes in liquid nitrogen then stored in deep freezer -80oc) for up to 52 weeks. new invitro germination medium was modified to test date palm pollen, which consisted of 1% agar, 8% sucrose and 20ppm citric acid. in addition, pollen viability was tested by using 1% 2, 3, 5–triphenlytetrazolium chloride (ttc)and 30% sucrose for date palm, and 1% ttc and 60% sucrose for pistachio. cryopreserved pollen of date palmgave the best results; refrigerated pollen was conveniently stored for long period, while frozen pollen wasconveniently stored for medium period. on the other hand, cryopreserved pollen of pistachio could be stored for4 weeks, while in refrigerator and freezer just for 2 weeks.