Application of Pulse Treatment to Prolong Shelf Life of Fresh Cut Rose (Rosa hybrida)

Abstract

Fresh cut flower has characteristis such as perishable and short shelf life. Pulse treatment is a kind of method that can prolong fresh cut flower’s shelf life. Pulse treatment is a postharvest handling which is done by soaking the stem of flower into a solution containing nutrients (glucose and sucrose) and germicides. The objectives of this reseacrh were to determine the best alternatives of pulse treatment and determine shelf life of fresh cut rose flower of each treatment. There were 6 alternatives, namely P 1 (5% sucrose+20 mg/l AgNO 3 ), P 2 (150 mg/l AgNO 3 ), P 3 (1,2% sucrose+0,2 mM STS), P 4 (5% sucrose+20 mg/l AgNO 3 +320 mg/l citric acid), P 5 (1,2% sucrose+ 0,2 mM STS+ warm water (40 0 C)), P 6 (5% sucrose+20 mg/l AgNO 3 +320 mg/l citric acid+warm water (40 0 C)). The parameters used for determining shelf life are color of petals (lightness and redness), moisture content, and texture of stem. As results, shelf life of P1 was 8 days, P2 was 6 days, P3 was 4 days, P4 was 6 days, P5 was 5 days, and P6 was 5 days. All of the alternatives gave longer shelf life than control (4 days). The best alternatives was P1 with 8 days shelf life. Moisture content in that day was 78,313%, texture of stem was 47,0603 N, lightness was 31,237 and redness was 46,942.