Studies on refrigerated storage of carnation flowers.
Kushal Singh; Singh, P. J.; Arora, J. S.; Mann, R. P. S.;
Floriculture research trend in India. Proceedings of the national symposium on Indian floriculture in the new millenium, Lal-Bagh, Bangalore, 25-27 February, 2002
2002
บทคัดย่อ
Sixty-cm long stems of carnation (cv. Tasman), harvested from the field-grown crop at paint brush stage, were stored either in dry or wet storage in a cool chamber at 4 plus or minus 0.5 deg C and 80-85% RH for 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 days. After storage, the stems were placed in vases containing distilled water and held at 23 plus or minus 2 deg C with 16 h illumination/day. The number of days to flower bud opening increased as the duration of dry storage increased. The vase life of flowers held in dry storage showed a slight but continuous decrease as storage duration increased. The flowers had vase lives of 10, 9.78, 8.11, 7.78, 6.45 and 5.89 days after 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 days of storage (DOS), respectively. The storage duration did not significantly affect the final flower size. The stems showed relatively high water absorption up to 9 DOS, and declined thereafter. The stems also showed continuous decrease in fresh weight, and the decrease was maximum at 12-18 DOS. However, the flowers and leaves did not show any sign of desiccation after storage. In wet storage, the buds opened faster compared with those in dry storage. The number of days to bud opening decreased with the progress of storage duration, taking 1.45 days (minimum) to open after 18 DOS. The vase life of flowers remained high up to 9 DOS but showed a drastic decrease thereafter. The vase life of wet-stored flowers was shorter than those stored under dry conditions. The flower size remained more or less the same throughout the storage duration. The flowering stems also showed low water uptake, which remained almost the same up to 9 DOS. The stems increased in fresh weight with the increase in storage duration. Thus, the flowers can be wet-stored for up to 9 days and dry-stored for up to 9-12 days without any loss in vase life.