Bactris gasipaesKunth is important both economically and as a food resource in several countries of tropical Africa. The profitability of cultivation can be increased by genetic amelioration of natural morphotypes. We observed that pollen characteristics influence the morphological and physiological features of the fruits. This prompted us to undertake a study based upon ten morphotypes from the Yurimaguas (Peru). We here complete the morphological and ultrastructural investigation of pollen, previously started by one of us, with an analysis of the elements with respect to the importance of the role they play in relation to pollen function. A determination of the 8 major elements, which corresponds to a precise analysis of the exine, was performed by micro-X-Ray diffraction analysis using an electron probe coupled with a scanning electron microscope. At the same time, the determination of calcium, magnesium and twelve oligo-elements by inductive coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP) provided a complete mineral analysis of the pollen. A comparison of the element patterns of the morphotypes, obtained by both was carried out through a number of numerical data reduction techniques (Factor analysis and clustering). This led us to suggest two classifications: (1) that of pollen based upon mineral elements (2) that of mineral elements based upon pollen and further to look for possible multiple correlations between elements and pollens.
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