GENOTYPES AND STORAGE DURATION EFFECTS ON THE QUALITY OF CUT FLOWER – GERBERA (GERBERA JAMESONII HOOK)

Abstract

Studies on cut flowers have occurred, for improving their quality is the main priority. One of the top 10 cut flowers in the world, the gerbera, or Transvaal daisy (Gerbera jamesonii Hook), is a flowering plant. The presented study aimed to investigate the effect of genotypes, storage duration, and their interactions on the quality of cut flower – Transvaal daisy. Two cultivars of Gerbera (sweet smile and sweet surprise) and their four storage durations underwent examination on the various parameters of vase life and carbohydrates. The results exhibited that the cultivar ‘Sweet smile’ had exceptional values of the studied parameters compared with the cultivar ‘Sweet surprise.’ The treatment of seven days with dry-cool storage proved superior upon 14- and 21-day treatments (11.71, 11.05, and 5.94, respectively) and had the highest positive effects on vase life and flower carbohydrate content compared with the other two storage treatments. The treatment of zero days (non-stored flowers) was significantly superior to seven-day storage. The interactions of cultivars and storage durations gave the highest effect in reducing the depletion of the carbohydrates content in cultivars with zero days, increasing the flower’s vase life. Therefore, the highest values recorded for the cultivar Sweet smile are zero days, followed by seven days of storage, compared with the rest of the treatments.