Effective pollination period of ‘Fuji Murasaki’ Akebia trifoliata

The three–leaf akebia (Akebia trifoliata), a monoecious woody vine is cultivated locally in Japan.
Artificial pollination is indispensable for stable fruit production, as they exhibit self-incompatibility.
However, the effective pollination period (EPP) has not yet been studied.
Here, we investigated the EPP of female A. trifoliata ‘Fuji Murasaki’ flowers in two consecutive years.
In 2018, abundant fruit set (>85%) was achieved when pollinating from anthesis to 4 days after anthesis (DAA), and fruit set rates decreased as flowers aged from 7 DAA. In 2019, fruit set rates were <35% when pollinating up to 4 DAA and high (60 to 80%) when pollinating 6-10 DAA. In both years, the highly productive female flowers produced stigma exudate and retained all three petaloid sepals.
Fruits originating from highly fertile female flowers tended to be longer and contain more seeds.
Thus, it is indicated that the EPP of female ‘Fuji Murasaki’ flowers is not related to anthesis but is approximately 5 days after stigma exudate secretion.

IV Asian Horticultural Congress – AHC2023

D. Matsumoto, K. Ito, S. Taira

artificial pollination, days after anthesis, self-incompatibility, stigma exudate

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2024.1404.166