Abstract:

The pollen xenia phenomenon not only affects the setting rate but also influences the appearance and quality of nuts. To elucidate this phenomenon，we investigated the pollen xenia effect in Castanea henryi，using the cultivars Huali 1，Huali 2，Huali 3 and Huangzhen as materials. Twenty combinations of self-，cross-，and natural pollination were undertaken in a Chenzhou chestnut orchard of Hunan Province. The results revealed that there were significant difference among the pollination combinations in terms of fruit ripening，fruit setting，size of the barbed shell and nut，soluble sugars，fats，proteins，amylose，and vitamin C，but that there were no significant differences with regard to seed rate，total starch，and moisture content. The fruit quality of the 20 pollination combinations was evaluated by subordinate function method of fruit，showed that Huali 2 × Huali 3 is the best combination，and Huangzhen × Huangzhen is the last one. Thus，the combination of Huali 2 × Huali 3 was the best choice.

Key words: Castanea henryi, pollination, fruit-setting rate, pollen xenia, subordinate function method