Asian pears have been increasingly popular on the European market, but their cultivation history in Europe is rather short. Pear is a demanding species in terms of pollinator cultivar. Self-fertility is a valid characteristic and is rare in European pears, and for this reason pollinating cultivars are planted in orchards. Self-fertility phenomenon in Asian pear cultivars is not currently known. The study was conducted in 2015-2016, in a 6-year old pomology orchard at the Mendel University in Lednice (Czech Republic). Pollen yield, pollen viability and self-fertility of 18 Asian pear cultivars and 5 European cultivars was evaluated. The estimated features were: number of pollen grains at a Bürker hemocytometer, pollen viability at Alexander’s dye method and germination pollen grains, self-fertility using fluorescence microscope and the pollen germination index (PGI). European ‘Clapp’s Favorite’ cultivar and Asian cultivars ‘Zaosuli’, ‘Shinko’, ‘Kumt’ and ‘Ghant’ were characterized by the highest number of pollen grains (over 500,000 grains). Asian cultivar ‘Shon Shu’ had the lowest number of pollen grains (less than 10,000 grains). Asian pear pollen viability ranged between 90-100%. Among European pears, ‘Williams’ and ‘Clapp’s Favorite’ were characterized by the highest pollen viability (90%), while the lowest viability was observed in the pollen of ‘Bera di Bosco’ and ‘Alexander Lucas’ cultivars (60-70%). Additionally, it was found that germination capacity of these two last cultivars was very weak (40-70%). The results clearly show that none of the 18 Asian cultivars are self-fertile, and they require a pollinator to obtain high-quality fruits.

 

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This abstract was accepted to be presented at the conference entitled “40 Years of Horticulture Education in Cluj-Napoca†Cluj-Napoca, September 27, 2017, being included in ‘Book of Abstracts’ of this special-anniversary event (http://conference.shst.ro). All accepted papers will be published in a special issue of Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca journal.