Pre- and/or Postharvest Silicon Application Prolongs the Vase Life and Enhances the Quality of Cut Peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) Flowers.

Jinnan Song,Yali Li,Byoung Ryong Jeong,Jaehyeok Lee,Jiangtao Hu

doi:10.3390/plants10081742

Abstract

Peony is an important ornamental plant and has become increasingly popular for cut flower cultivation. However, a short vase life and frequent poor vase quality severely restrict its market value. The study described herein was conducted to investigate the effects of silicon application on the vase life and quality of two cut peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) cultivars, ‘Taebaek’ and ‘Euiseong’. For pre- and/or postharvest silicon application, four experimental groups based on treatments were designed. With silicon treatment, the relevant growth attributes, including the shoot and leaf lengths, stem and bud diameters as well as the leaf width were all remarkably increased. In the postharvest storage, the addition of silicon to the holding solution in the vase was able to significantly extend vase life, delay fresh weight decrease, and improve vase quality, as characterized by the antioxidant enzyme activities and mechanical stem strength. Taken together, silicon application, regardless of the approach, was able to effectively prolong the vase life and enhance the quality of cut peony flowers.

Highlights

Paeonia lactiflora Pall., known as herbaceous peony, is distributed and cultivated worldwide
The growth attributes of pre-harvest peony, including the shoot length, stem diameter, leaf length, leaf width, and bud diameter, were significantly affected by Si application
It was demonstrated that the magnitude of the effects of silicon applications on the stem and bud diameters were strongly dependent on the cultivar

Summary

Introduction

Paeonia lactiflora Pall., known as herbaceous peony, is distributed and cultivated worldwide It is a highly decorative plant species, owing to its abundant flowers of bright graceful colors and elegant shapes [1]. These characteristics have made it an extremely popular ornamental plant in the global flower market in recent years [2]. Postharvest performance is crucial for the cut flower industry, and addressing this problem is naturally beneficial for the availability and flexibility of the cut peony market It appears that developing effective procedures or approaches capable of extending the vase life while maintaining great flower quality during the postharvest phase is recommended

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Conclusion