THE EFFECTS OF PRE-STORAGE TREATMENTS ON POSTHARVEST QUALITY OF CUT ANEMONE (ANEMONE CORONARIA) FLOWERS

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of pre-storage treatments on the vase life and other flower qualitative characters of cut anemone flowers. Flower stems were collected from a commercial orchard and the following pre-storage treatments were applied to the flowers of: T1) keeping cut flowers in a solution of silver nitrate (SN) plus 30 ppm sucrose; T2) spraying cut flowers with 50 ppm GA₃ one day before harvest; T3) spraying cut flowers with 50 ppm GA₃ after harvest (stems were kept in the same solution of treatment T1), for treatments T2), and T3); T4) spraying cut flowers with a solution of 1% sucrose after harvest; T5) spraying cut flowers with a 1% sucrose solution + spraying them with 50 ppm GA₃ after harvest (the stems were kept in 50 ppm SN solution, for treatments T4), T5) and T6) keeping cut flowers in non-pure water, and T7) keeping cut flowers in normal water. During these experiments, light intensity was 300 Lux, temperature was 16±2°C and humidity rate was 50%. Variables included rates of petal abscission, leaf yellowing, stem bending, and flower wilting, number of marketable flowers, and flowers’ vase lives. The data of these experiments were analyzed in Completely Randomized Design (CRD)-SAS statistics software program. Means of variables were tested by means of Duncan test (0.05). Results indicated that the best period of storage to have well-qualified flowers in aspects of the vase life, leaf quality, petal quality and flower marketability, was 8 days. Furthermore, treatments of T2 and T3 influenced better preservation of cut flower qualities. The lowest rate of the vase life was obtained via the application of T4, T6 and T7 treatments.