Combined effects of inflorescence developmental age and environmental conditions during microgametogenesis on pollen viability, germination and size in <i>Musa acuminata</i> ssp.

These findings indicate that both inflorescence maturity and specific environmental conditions during pollen development significantly influence pollen quality in bananas. Pollen performance could be optimized in wild diploids by obtaining pollen in the first months of the male flowering phase and shielding the plants from high light intensities, whereas for cultivars the pollen should be harvested towards the end of the male flowering phase, and a heat treatment during meiosis could lead to higher pollen quality and thereby increase breeding success.