Post-Harvest Physiology and Vase Life of Cut Chrysanthemum Flowers with Sucrose, Putrescine and Spermidine as Holding Solutions

Selecting sucrose as energy source and putrescine (Putr) and spermidine (Spmd) as senescence retarding phytohormone, an investigation was carried out to find out how they influence the longevity of cut flowers. Scapes of Chrysanthemum dendranthema grandiflorum var. Chandrima were taken in vase solutions like sucrose (0.1M), Putr (1×10⁻⁴ M), Spmd (1×10⁻⁴M), Putr (1×10⁻⁴ M)+ sucrose (0.1M)and spermidine (1×10⁻⁴ M)+sucrose (0.1M). A combination of sucrose + Spmd as vase solution was most effective in checking the shrinkage of flower diameter and the decline in fresh weight. Maximum vase life of 14 days was recorded with sucrose + Spmd and Putr while that of sucrose alone was 9 days. Both polyamines (PAs) were highly effective in maintaining moisture content and MSI value. They were also able to reduce not only the decline in the amount of starch, protein and proline but also the rise in lipid peroxidation, α-amylase activity and total sugars. Further, Putr was more effective when used alone while Spmd was greater effective in combination with sucrose than alone in minimizing senescence effects. Overall comparisons indicated that Spmd was slightly better in performance than Putr in suppressing senescence.