• Dr Ajish Muraleedharan

Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii) is one of 10 most important cut flowers in the world. Gerbera is very popular and widely used as a decorative garden plant and as cut flower. It is one of the popular cut flower having short vase life and are mostly used freshly, so the improvement of vase life is the required quality to the customers. But the most important problem faced by the flowers is the short-life after harvest and stem neck bending. It is very much important to improve and to increase longevity and quality of these flowers by using chemical solutions. In this study, effects of various postharvest treatments on postharvest quality and quantity parameters of Gerbera were evaluated. To increase the postharvest shelf life of gerbera flowers experiments were conducted by using Preservative solutions viz. Citric Acid and Silver nitrate in 4 different concentrations viz. 10, 20, 30 and 40 ppm and control treatment with distilled water were used. The experiment was conducted with total nine treatments. The application of silver nitrate declined the rates of relative fresh weight reduction. The solution uptake and soluble solid contents in silver nitrate treated cut flowers were significantly higher than other treatment during the experimental days. The application of silver nitrate led to the promoted longevity of gerbera cut flowers and positive effects on the vase life of gerbera cut flowers. Stem bending, and petal shriveling were also found to be delay in the treatment with Silver nitrate 40 ppm. Treatment with Silver nitrate 40-ppm can extend the vase life of harvested gerbera flowers by reducing the fungal infection, increase the solution uptake and by supplementing carbohydrate for harvested flowers.

Gerbera, vase life, preservatives

"POST HARVEST TREATMENT AND VASE LIFE ANALYSIS OF GERBERA Var. ARKA KRISHIKA USING DIFFERENT VASE SOLUTIONS", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.654-657, June-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906S32.pdf

"POST HARVEST TREATMENT AND VASE LIFE ANALYSIS OF GERBERA Var. ARKA KRISHIKA USING DIFFERENT VASE SOLUTIONS", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp654-657, June-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1906S32.pdf