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

Abstract

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.