Postharvest physiology and handling of cut Spartium junceum inflorescences

Abstract

Spartium junceum is a deciduous perennial shrub with extreme resistance to drought that develops spike inflorescences with yellow, delicate, lightly scented flowers. In series of experiments, we investigated S. junceum postharvest performance and recorded various quality parameters. Harvesting S. junceum inflorescences at different developmental stages did not affect vase life (VL) or inflorescence fresh weight. However, significant differences between harvest stages were recorded on flower open rate (FOR; %) and flower fall rate (FFR; %). Sucrose pulsing at 2 and 5% (w:v) for 24 h resulted in significant increases in FOR, but no changes in FFR, inflorescence fresh weigh and solution uptake (SU) were recorded. Wet storage at 3 °C effectively increased VL and maintained quality of inflorescences for over 40 days. S. junceum showed a moderate sensitivity to exogenous ethylene. Exposure of inflorescences to 5 and 10 μL L−1 for 12 h resulted in significant decrease in VL and FOR, and also increase in FFR. 1-MCP treatments at 10 μL L−1 significantly increased VL by 2.2 d, FOR by up to 90% and maintained higher inflorescence fresh weight (P < 0.05) for 5 d (e.g. from day-3 to day-8), compared to the un-treated controls. The results of the present study suggest that S. junceum could, potentially, be cultivated commercially for specialty cut flower production.