Phenology as a tool to gain more insights into the grass pollen season

Abstract

Background: Grass pollen allergy is the most common pollen allergy in the world. The grass family (Poaceae) consists of many genera and species of allergenic importance, but all share a uniform pollen grain morphology. Phenology is the key to discriminate different taxa. Methodology: PubMed was used as the search engine. The publications found were selected based on their relevance and summarized. Results: Studies with this focus are still rare. The composition of grass genera and species varies largely from region to region. Some taxa play a more important role in terms of pollen release and allergenicity than others. Conclusion: Phenological routines need deep botanical knowledge and are time-consuming. Nonetheless, they should be integrated into studies on the grass pollen season since they allow a more precise understanding.