Vase life of cut Lilium pumilum inflorescences with salicylic acid

Abstract

The demand for flowers and ornamental plants has significantly increased in recent years. However, in most cases, the production of such species is accompanied by inappropriate postharvest handling, which is responsible for significant losses of marketed flowers. Lilium pumilum, a member of the family Liliaceae, is one of the ornamental species with economic potential as potted or cut flower, which features long stalks containing orange inflorescences with several flower buds and numerous smooth as well as linear leaves. Due the high perishability of this product, appropriate techniques that extend flower longevity should be employed. The present study was developed to evaluate the effect of salicylic acid (SA) on the postharvest preservation of L. pumilum inflorescences. Stalks were kept in maintenance solution with different concentrations of SA (0, 1, 5 and 10 mM) for 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 h. The L. pumilum flowers had longevity decreased by 57.8 and 63.1% when kept in 5 and 10 mM SA, respectively, compared with control. This effect may be associated with the observed decrease in the percentages of flower opening and chlorophyll content as well as the damping-off of stalks, indicating phytotoxicity. Therefore, the use of 5 and 10 mM SA is inefficient to extend the longevity of L. pumilum.

Extension of the vase life of Lilium pumilum cut flowers by pulsing solution containing sucrose, citric acid and silver thiosulfate

“…Regardless of the treatment, the highest uptake occurred on the first day after harvest, after which there was a reduction in uptake. These results are in line with those observed by Santos et al (2018) and Alkaç et al (2020), who demonstrated the highest water uptake rate in the initial days of storage for L. pumilum and dahlia. Among the pulse-treated, it was observed that 6 h provided better water uptake and, possibly, the pulsing treatment contributed for that (Figure 2).…”

“…Lily flowers (L. pumilum Redouté) were supplied by flower growers from Brasília, Brazil. The plant, still potted, was acclimatized in a cold room (5 °C) for 12-h. After this process, stems with flowers at S0 (green floral bud) and S1 (bud showing the first petal color) (Santos et al, 2018) stages were cut -leaving only one flower bud and leaves -with a standardized length of 25 cm, in the absence of mechanical damage and pathogens. The cut stems were then placed in pulsing solutions containing sucrose (20 g L -1 ), citric acid (100 mg L -1 ) and silver thiosulfate (STS, 0.2 mM), at pH 3.6, at 0, 6-, 12-, 18-and 24-h (Santos and Mapeli, 2015).…”

“…was evaluated daily. Floral opening was also determined daily from visual changes in development stages, being classified as follows: • S0: green floral bud; • S1: floral bud at the beginning of orange coloration; • S2: orange floral bud; • S3: semi-open flower; • S4: open flower; • S5: senescent flower(Santos et al, 2018).…”