Effect of pulsing, 1-methyl cyclo propene (1-MCP) and packaging treatments on postharvest physiology of cut rose cv. First Red

Abstract: An experiment was conducted to study the influence of different pulsing, pre packaging (1-Methyl Cyclo Propene) and packaging treatments on postharvest physiology, quality and vase life of cut rose flowers cv. First Red. Among the treatments, W1 (Pulsing with 200 ppm 8-HQC and 10 % sucrose + pre packaging treatment with 0.18 % of 1 - MCP/m³ for 6 hours + polythene wrapping) was found superior and it was associated with the highest values for appearance (score 5 - excellent), stem strength (90⁰ angle), relative water content (92.95 per cent), water uptake (11.53 g stalk^-1), freshness of flowers (100 per cent) and vase life (6.3 days). The same treatment W1 (Pulsing with 200 ppm 8-HQC and 10 % sucrose + pre packaging treatment with 0.18 % of 1 - MCP/m³ for 6 hours + polythene wrapping) exhibited the lowest values for physiological loss in weight (3.58 per cent), transpirational loss of water (2.01 g stalk^-1), loss of membrane integrity (7.48 per cent) and peroxidase activity (0.016 units g^-1 of fresh weight of flowers).