Effect of pollen source on fruit set, fruit colour, and quality attributes of ‘Medjool’ date palm
¹Department of Pomology, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, El-Gamaa St., Giza, Egypt. ²Department of Pomology, Agricultural and Biological Research Institute, National Research Centre, El-Bohouth St., Dokki, Giza, Egypt. Corresponding e-mail: ahmed_khouder@yahoo.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37855/jah.2026.v28i02.79
The effects of three pollen sources, namely Seedling, Jarvis, and Red-El Ghanamy males, on fruit set, fruit colour and quality attributes of six-year-old ‘Medjool’ date palms were evaluated during 2024 and 2025 seasons in a private orchard in South Sinai Governorate, Egypt. The experiment was arranged in a completely randomised design with three pollen-source treatments and three replicates, each consisting of five palms. Each palm was considered as an experimental unit, giving a total of 45 palms. In both seasons, pollination with pollen from Red-El Ghanamy male palms produced the highest fruit set (81.60 and 83.40%), fresh fruit weight (19.48 and 20.13 g), flesh-to-fruit weight ratio (94.09 and 92.71%), bunch weight (6.84 and 7.35 kg), and yield (47.94 and 51.49 kg palm?¹). It also enhanced biochemical attributes including total soluble solids (71.82 and 71.09 °Brix), total sugars (71.88 and 73.63 100 g?¹ FW) and reducing sugars (51.51 and 52.35 100 g?¹ FW). Moreover, Red-El Ghanamy pollen enhanced fruit colour and reduced skin separation (3.2 and 3.5%) and fruit moisture content (21.1 and 21.5%). These findings indicate that Red-El Ghanamy is a promising pollinizer for improving fruit set, colour, and quality attributes of ‘Medjool’ date palm.
