Effect of Gellan Gum and MS Inorganic Salt Gel Formulations on the Vase Life of Cut Roses and Physical Properties of Gel

Abstract

The effects of gellan gum gels and Murashige and Skoog (MS) inorganic salts at various strengths on the vase life of ‘Rote Rose’ rose cut flowers were investigated. To form the gels, gellan gum was dissolved with MS salts at various concentrations. To simulate the transport of cut rose flowers, stems were placed in gellan gum gels and held at 23°C for 24 h or 48 h. Cut flowers were then transferred into distilled water and their fresh weight (FW) and vase life were determined. According to the observed vase life and changes in FW, gels formed with 0.2% gellan gum and standard-strength MS salts appear to be the most suitable for cut roses. Although the hardness of gellan gum gel increases with increased concentrations of gellan gum and MS salts, no correlation between vase life and gel hardness was observed. To determine the potential water availability of gellan gum gel, gels were placed in a centrifuge filter device, centrifuged at 3000 × g for 10 min and the amount of water released from the gel was measured. A highly positive correlation between the amount of water released from the gel and water uptake of flowers placed in gellan gum gels was observed. A positive correlation between the amount of water released and vase life was also observed. Thus, using centrifugation to measure the volume of water released from gellan gum gels appears to be a simple and rapid method for evaluating the performance of gellan gum gels as wetting agents.