Document Type : Full Paper

Authors

• Azar Hosseini bahri ¹
• Jafar Ahmadi ²
• Sepideh Kalatejari ³

¹ Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

² Department of Genetics and Plant breeding, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.

³ Department of Horticultural Sciences and Agronomy, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Keywords

• Calcium chelate
• Flower life
• Rose varieties
• Seaweed
• Silver nanoparticles

Main Subjects

• Ornamental plant science

Extended Abstract

Introduction

    By devoting more than a third of the production of cut flowers to itself, roses have the world's first cut flower production, and the highest business value. The short life of roses cut flowers causes a decrease in the quality and marketability of these flowers. This decline in quality is attributed to physiological and biochemical changes during pre-harvest and post-harvest stages of the rose life cycle. The objective of this research was to explore the beneficial effects of biotic and abiotic elicitors in inducing effective physiological and biochemical changes that enhance the longevity of cut flowers of various rose cultivars. Additonally, the study aimed to survey the genetic diversity among four Dutch rose cultivars in response to the elicitors appplied.

Materials and methods

     This research was conducted as a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design with four replications. The research examined two factors: the cultivar factor in four levels ('Samurai', 'Avalanche', 'Angelina' and 'Delsovita') and the elicitors factor, which comprised ten levels (control, seaweed extract (1, 2 and 3 gL^-1), calcium chelates (1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 gL^-1), silver nanoparticles (2.5, 5 and 10 mgL^-1)). The elicitors treatment was applied through foliar spraying for one and a half months. Foliar spraying by distilled water was utilized for the control treatment. The cut flowers with stem length of 40 cm were placed at room temperature (20 ± 2 °C), with a relative humidity of 60%, light intensity of 14 μmol/m²/s and a photoperiod of 12 hours. Finally, the various traits, including carbohydrates content, proline content, electrolyte leakage, ethylene production, bacterial population, transpiration rate, and the flower vase life were measured.

Results and Discussion

    The results of analysis of variance indicated that both the main effects of cultivars and elicitors, as well as their interaction effect, were significant at the probability level of 1% for all the studied physiological and biochemical characteristics. The lowest carbohydrate content was 58.21 and 57.9 mgg^-1 of dry weight in the 'Samurai' variety, which was observed under the treatments of 3 gL^-1 seaweed extract and 10 mgL^-1 of silver nanoparticles, respectively. Furthermore, the application of elicitors led to a reduction in proline content compared to the control, with the minimum proline content being 2.69 and 2.72 µmolg^-1 of fresh weight observed in the treatments of 3 gL^-1 of seaweed and 3.5 gL^-1 of calcium chelate, respectively. The maximum amount of proline was 3.98 µmolg^-1 of fresh weight in the control treatment. Using the elicitors resulted in a decrease in electrolyte leakage decreased compared to the control treatment, with the lowest electrolyte leakage was observed at 27.67% in the treatment of 5 mgL^-1 silver nanoparticles, while the control treatment exhibited the highest electrolyte leakage at 39.5%. FurthermoreThe application of elicitors led to a reduction in the transpiration rate relative to the control, so that the minimum transpiration rate (0.27 mLh^-1g^-1 of fresh weight) was related to the treatment of 2.5 mgL^-1 silver nanoparticles, and the maximum transpiration rate (0.33 mLh^-1g^-1 of fresh weight) was related to the control. This indicated an 18.18% reduction in transpiration when silver nanoparticles were utilized compared to control. The amount of ethylene decreased with the application of elicitors compared to the control, so that the highest amount of ethylene (38.85 nanoLh^-1g^-1 of fresh weight) observed in control treatment. Incontrast the lowest ethylene (18.48 nanolh^-1g^-1 of fresh weight) was obtained in treatment of 3.5 gL^-1 calcium chelate, which indicates a reduction of 52.43% of ethylene compared to the control. All imployed elicitors decreased the bacterial population in rose cut flowers; ; the treatments with 5 and 10 mgL-1 silver nanoparticles recorded the lowest bacterial populations at 3.09 and 3.06 log10 CFUmL-1, respectively, while the control treatment had the highest bacterial population at 8.39 log10 CFUmL^-1. Additionally, all used elicitors increased the vase life of rose cut flowers, the 'Samurai' cultivar treated with 10 mgL-1 silver nanoparticles exhibited the longest vase life of 15.75 days, whereas the Delsoita cultivar in the control treatment had the shortest vase life of 6.82 days.

Conclusion

    The results indicated that the 'Samurai' cultivar was better than other cultivars regarding the evaluated physiological characteristics that contribute to extending the vase life of rose cut flowers. It exhibited lower levels of carbohydrates, electrolyte leakage, transpiration and ethylene. Additionally, it was noted that the elicitors applied were effective in diminishing the amount of carbohydrates, proline, electrolyte leakage, transpiration, ethylene and bacterial population in rose cut flowers of different cultivars. Finally, 10 mgL^-1 of silver nanoparticles were identified as an effective elicitor for enhancing the vase life of rose cut flowers.

Author Contributions

     Hosseini-Bahri A., Ahmadi, J. and Kalatejari S. conceived and planned the experiments. Hosseini-Bahri A. carried out the experiments, laboratory work and data collection. Hosseini-Bahri A., Ahmadi, J. contributed to data analysis, interpretation of data, and drafting the manuscript. All authors provided critical feedback and helped shape the research, analysis and manuscript.

Data Availability Statement

All data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and the datasets during the current study are available on request from the authors.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Imam Khomeini International University for the financial support of this research.

Ethical considerations

This article does not contain any studies involving human and animal subjects.

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author declares that there is no conflict of interest.