Abstract
Vase life is one of the most important characteristics in the quality of cut flowers. The carbohydrate content of petals from each cultivar can be a decisive factor to vase life of gladiolus flowers. Despite exposure to ethylene does not affect the life of open florets of gladiolus flowers, it may reduce the flower’s commercial life due the occurrence of flower buds abortion. This study thus aimed to evaluate the flower opening and the vase life of gladiolus flowers according to ethylene sensitivity and carbohydrate content of each cultivar. The gladiolus cultivars used in Experiment I were ‘Amsterdam’, ‘Blue Frost’, ‘Gold Field’, ‘Green Star’, ‘Jester’, ‘Lavender’, ‘Red Beauty’, ‘Rose Supreme’, ‘Traderhorn’, and ‘Verônica’. Stems were stored in airtight chambers and exposed to the ethylene concentrations of 0, 0.1, 1.0, 10, 100, and 1000 μL L−1 for 24 h. Subsequently, flower stem were placed in a test tube with distilled water when were evaluated for percentage of flower opening and vase life. In Experiment II, three cultivars (‘Amsterdam’, ‘Red Beauty’, and ‘Verônica’) were chosen based on the lowest, medium, and highest vase life in Experiment I, respectively. Total soluble sugars, reducing sugars, and starch contents were evaluated in five flower developmental stages. No effect of ethylene on the flower opening or alterations in flower opening between cultivars. The vase life of gladiolus flowers differed between cultivars regardless of ethylene action. ‘Verônica’ and ‘Amsterdam’, which had the highest and lowest vase life, respectively, differed as to the total soluble sugar content. Ethylene does not influence the flower opening or vase life of the gladiolus cultivars studied. In these cultivars, the maintenance of flower opening is attributed to total soluble sugars content, which, in turn, is a major determinant of the vase life.
Highlights
Gladiolus sp., a species originating from South Africa, is a cut flower with good adaptability for development in different climatic regions
We evaluated total soluble sugars, reducing sugars, and starch contents
This indicates that there was no effect of ethylene on flower opening of gladiolus flowers, and no alterations were observed in flower opening between cultivars
Summary
Gladiolus sp., a species originating from South Africa, is a cut flower with good adaptability for development in different climatic regions. It’s of easy cultivation, characterized by its resistance to pests and diseases, and has a large variety of flower colors (HASSAN et al, 2014; KUMAR et al, 2014), making it one of the most widely grown species of cut flowers in the world. Cut flowers for sale need to withstand the harvest, packing, and distribution procedures and have an acceptable quality to the final consumer. Two important characteristics of cut flowers are high flower opening capacity after stems are harvested and long vase life after opening (NABIGOL et al, 2014). Vase life is one of the most important factors in the quality of cut flowers, and it may vary among gladiolus cultivars. Ethylene sensitivity varies considerably among species and even among cultivars of the same species (SEREK et al, 2006; SCARIOT et al, 2014)
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