Abstract
Ophiopogon japonicus (L.f.) Ker-Gawl (family Liliaceae) is an export-oriented foliage plant with attractive white-green strips. The vase life of this cut foliage ends when the leaves loose turgidity and/ or bright green colour. Thus, to enhance the vase life of O. japonicus, effect of 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mM CuSO4.5H2O, 10, 20, and 30 g/L sucrose and combination of sucrose with 0.5 mM CuSO4.5H2O as holding treatments, 20 g/L and 30 g/L sucrose solutions as 24 h pulsing treatments and 6-Benzylaminopurine 5, 10, 20 mg/L BAP were tested. Relative fresh weight of leaves, solution uptake rate and vase life were assessed. Vase solution bacterial enumerations were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of CuSO4.5H2O as a biocide. To investigate the function of BAP, amount of chlorophyll was quantified using leaf pigment extracts. The vase life of O. japonicus could be extended from 5.1 days to 12.5 days by giving BAP based vase solutions. Chlorophyll contents of leaves dipped in BAP solutions were significantly higher than the control (distilled water). CuSO4 solutions did not show any significant antibacterial effects compared to the control. According to vase life data, the most effective vase solutions were CuSO4.5H2O (0.5 mM), sucrose 20 g/L with CuSO4.5H2O (0.5 mM) as holding treatments, sucrose 20 g/L and 30 g/L as pulsing treatments and BAP treatments (5, 10, 20 mg/L).
Highlights
Ophiopogon japonicus is a perennial, ornamental foliage plant belongs to the family Liliaceae (USDA, 2013)
Relative fresh weight and vase life of leaves dipped in all vase solutions were significantly (p < 0.05) different from the control (DW)
The results indicated that sucrose as a vase solution enhances the osmotic balance of cell and maintains turgidity
Summary
Ophiopogon japonicus is a perennial, ornamental foliage plant belongs to the family Liliaceae (USDA, 2013). At present, this plant is grown commercially in Sri Lanka. Two major factors affecting the rate of water uptake of cut flowers are xylem hydraulic conductance and water potential difference between the plant tissue and vase solution. Water potential of plant tissue may vary due to transpiration and cell enlargement (van Meeteren and van Gelder, 1999). Cut stem end can be blocked by large amounts of microorganisms and their by-products (Jones and Hill, 1993) leading to decline of water levels in tissues (van Meeteren and van Gelder, 1999). Postharvest treatments are very crucial to delay the rate of deterioration and to prolong the vase life of cut flowers and foliage (Tsegaw et al, 2011)
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