Low temperature storage of mango (Mangifera indica L.) pollen

• Pollen viability of mango cultivars up to 24 weeks under 4 storage conditions compared.
• Pollen viability tests viz., in vitro germination, FDA and acetocarmine were compared.
• Pollen viability assays confirmed that in vitro germination test was more reliable.
• In FDA and acetocarmine tests pollen viability was often overestimated.
• Cryo-stored (−196 °C) pollens showed significantly higher viability in mango cultivars.

A study was conducted to investigate pollen viability of three polleniser mango cultivars, viz. ‘Sensation’, ‘Tommy Atkins’ and ‘Janardan Pasand’ up to 24 weeks under four storage conditions (room temperature, −4 °C, −20 °C and −196 °C). Three methods of pollen viability testing, viz. in vitro germination, fluorescein diacetate (FDA) and acetocarmine staining were used. Storage methods and interaction between storage methods and days of storage had highly significant effect on pollen viability (p ≤ 0.0001). Room temperature storage of pollen in the three mango cultivars showed very low pollen viability after 4 weeks of storage, after which pollens were not viable. Irrespective of mango genotypes, cryo-stored (−196 °C) pollens showed significantly higher viability as compared to all the other storage conditions. The differential results obtained by using different pollen viability assay confirmed that in vitro germination test was more reliable compared to FDA or acetocarmine tests, where germination was often overestimated. From the present study, we suggest storage of pollen at −20 °C for pollination among cultivars having non-synchronized flowering in a season. However, for long term storage cryo method proved to be the best for pollen storage in mango.