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Abstract

Comon stock flower is one of the main ornamental plants in Iran which has been met with an immense demand in recent years, because of variety in color, beauty, odor etc. Postharvest problems cause loss of quality and shorter vase life in this flower. The influence of three treatments consisting of: 1-water (control), 2- 8-hydroxy quinolin sulfate (150 mg.lit’) + sucrose (2%) and 3- 8-hydroxy quinolin sulfate (150 mg.lit’) at three cold storage temperatures (4, 8 and 12 °C) were examined. The experiment was conducted as a factorial design on the basis of a randomized complete design with four replications. Factors related to vase life and flower quality characteristics including fresh weight, water uptake, stem hydraulic conductance and inflorescence length were assessed. High temperature caused early blooming and shortening of vase life. Treatments 2 and 3 caused vase life increment and stability of hydraulic conductance at the three temperatures levels. However, treatment 2 in comparison with control increased vase life at 4 °C more than others. Fructose, glucose and sucrose levels increased in flower, stem and leaf in the second treatment. There was a positive correlation between sugar concentration in flower, leaf and inflorescence with stem length increment as well as with flower vase life. The results indicated that soluble carbohydrate concentration in flower, leaf and stem is one of the detrimining factors in vase life longevity.

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