Journal of Crop Production and Processing

Premature leaf yellowing of Alstroemeria cut flowers prior to petal fall is the most important limiting factor of the flower postharvest life. In this study, cut flower Alstroemeria cv. Bridal were treated for 24 hours with different solutions including gibberllic acid, benzyl adenine, natural essential oil carvacrol with two concentrations of 50 and 100 mg L^-1, 5-sulfo salicylic acid in two concentrations of 1 and 1.5 mM, sucrose in  two concentrations of 5 and 10%. Ethanol and distilled water were used as controls. After treatment, flowers were placed in distilled water. The traits including vase life of flower and leaf, relative fresh weight, water uptake, chlorophyll and carotenoids contents were measured. The results showed that both concentrations of gibberellic acid (50 and 100 mgL^-1) had the highest effect in delaying of flower aging for 3.33 and 3 days, respectively, compared to the control. Relative fresh weight and water uptake also were higher in mentioned treatments, than the other treatments. The gibberellic acid (50 and 100 mg L^-1), benzyladenine (100 mg L^-1) and 5-Sulfo salicylic acid (1.5 mM) treatments led to the postponement of leaf yellowing relative to the remaining treatments. Also, in the mentioned treatments chlorophyll content was found to be greater than the other treatments, but carotenoids level was lower, compared to control treatments. Overall, the increase in quality and shelf life of Alstroemeria cut flowers cv 'Bridal' due to both gibberellic acid treatments (50 and 100 mg L^-1) was found to be greater than the increase due to the other examined solutions.