The olive tree (Olea europeae L.) is grown in many parts of the world. Variations in the ability of pollen to germinate have been showed conspicuous difference among cultivars. However, olive pollen is the material that is commonly used for clinical and biological studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the some chemical composition of pollen obtained from five olive cultivars. The content of moisture, ash, carbohydrate, protein, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase and boron concentration were determined. The obtained results showed variability between cultivars, moisture from 5.92 to 6.30%, ash from 2.58 to 2.76%, protein from 2.34 to 3.66 mg·g-1 fresh weight (FW), ascorbate peroxidase from 62.95 to 182.69 U·min-1·g FW, peroxidase from 58.39 to 95.37 U·min-1·g FW, catalase from 12.48 to 25.57 U U·min-1·g FW, superoxide dismutase from 15.81 to 17.54 U·min-1·g FW, carbohydrate from 2 to 2.07 mg·g-1 dry weight (DW) and boron concentration from 1321 to 1453 U·min-1·g FW. Data obtained by studying chemical composition can play an important role in the quality of pollen grains.

chemical composition, enzyme activity, olive, pollen, protein

Published by University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagreb, CROATIA
Sponsored by Ministry Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia