Morphological, Physicochemical, and Molecular Evaluation of Twenty-Three Date Palm Males Growing in Aswan Governorate

Abstract

An essential element of date palm production is the pollen source. The present study was conducted during two successive seasons of 2020 and 2021 to evaluate some males of Aswan date palm. Herein, morphological, physicochemical, and molecular characteristics of 23 date palm males were evaluated to determine the most superior and promising males for pollinating the female ‘Bartamoda’ cultivar. It is obvious that ‘Male No. 22’, recorded almost the highest value for morphological characteristics, pollen viability, crude protein, total amino acids, and mineral content. In contrast, ‘Male No. 5’, showed the lowest content of crude protein, total amino acids, and mineral content compared to the other males that were grown in the rest of the locations in Aswan government. All ISSR primers were highly polymorphic, with a value of 100%, highlighting the necessity of employing such primers when investigating date palm diversification. Two unique bands were among the 43 total bands that were produced. The genetic coefficients with a mean of 61.5% and the first two primary axes were able to explain roughly 52.30% of the genetic variance across the genotypes of date palms. Those results suggested that all genotypes tested are efficient for the fertilization of ‘Bartamoda’ inflorescences and can be used as pollinizer in commercial orchards of this cultivar.