Nutritional factors and modification in the content of anthocyanins associated with the blackening of rose petals (Rosa sp.)

Abstract

One of the most important physiological disorders of red rose cultivars is blackening of petals, it affects outer and inner ones and results in flowers of poor quality. The goal of this review is to make an approach to the blackening disorder, determining the main possible causes in order to make available to growers, academics, scientifics as well as stakeholders, the inputs that allows to unveil its origin and to optimize its handling. Symptoms of blackening are showed especially when the flowers have been harvested and stored under cold room conditions; due to high accumulation of pigments, such as anthocyanins, also could be due to stress conditions, such as high or low UV radiation, low temperatures or a nutrient imbalance in the affected tissues. The following subjects will be treated: i) calcium and boron and their interaction, ii) calcium and physiological disorders, iii) pigments involved in the petals red color, iv) role of the phenolic compounds, particularly the anthocyanins, which are responsible for most of the red, pink, purple and blue colors observed in plant parts; as well as the environmental factors that can influence the blackening on red rose.