PDF file - Israel Trade Commission

Agriculture 2011
Figure 2: Effect of the harvest stage of multi-floret stems of
‘Maggie Blanche’ lily following air (A, B, C) or sea (D, E, F) transport
simulations, on days to flower opening of florets 1 and 2 (A, D), days
from flower opening to death of floret 2 (B, E), and on total vase
life duration determined when floret 2 reached senescence stage
8 (C, F). Flowers were harvested when their first floret reached the
stages presented in Fig. 2G, and treated as described in Materials
and Methods. The results represent means of 5 replicates ± SE. The
red numbers in Fig. 2D indicate the difference in days to opening of
florets 1 and 2 following sea and air transport.
treatment comprised of 0.2% TOG-4 + 25 ppm GA 3 . The
flowers were then packed into commercial cartons
and stored for air transport (2-3 days at 6°C) or sea
transport (8 days at 2°C) simulations. After storage,
the flowers were placed in vases containing TOG-6 as
a preservative, and incubated in a controlled standard
observation room (20°C, 60-70% relative humidity and
12-h photoperiod) to determine their longevity following
the transport simulations.
Determination of the harvest stage and floret quality
parameters: The harvest stage was determined
according to the floret size as detailed in Figure 2G, and
according to the turning of the floret bud color from
green to white (Figure 4G). Eight stages of development
and senescence of the floret in the vase were defined,
as presented in Figure 1 for the ‘White Heaven’ cultivar.
The first, second and third florets were marked on the
Figure 3: Effect of the harvest stage of multi-floret stems of ‘Maggie
Blanche’ lily on the diameter (A) and length (B) of florets 1-3 at full
opening stage (stage 7) during vase life, following air transport
simulation. The experiment was performed as detailed in Figure 2.
The results represent means of 5 replicates ± SE.
flowering stem, and their developmental stages until
senescence were followed-up during vase life. We have
monitored the days to floret opening (stage 5 in Figure
1), and the days from floret opening to its senescence.
The flowering stem was discarded when the second
floret reached senescence stage 8, and the total vase
life duration was determined accordingly. The quality
parameters, including floret diameter and length, were
monitored at full opening before senescence (stage 7 in
Figure 1).
Results and Discussion
The results of the experiments conducted with the
‘Maggie Blanche’ lily cultivar harvested at three different
stages (Figure 2G), indicate that sea transport (Figure
2E) did not affect the number of days (6-7) during which
the florets were open in the vase, in comparison to air
transport (Figure 2B). Hence, the shipment method had
no effect on the floret senescence rate after opening.
The only difference between flowers transported either
by air or by sea was obtained in the rate of opening of
11