ENHANCEMENT OF THE QUALITY FEATURES, SOME CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS, THE PURITY OF THE VASE SOLUTION AND SOME ANATOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF Lilium orientalis L. Cv. SANTANDER CUT SPIKES BY USING SOME ESSENTIAL OILS
SAFIA, H. EL-HANAFY
Department of Ornamental Horticulture, Faculty of Aquaculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
MAGDA, M. KANDIL
Department of Ornamental Plants and Woody Trees, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.
MONA, H. MAHGOUB
Department of Ornamental Plants and Woody Trees, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.
NAHED, G. ABD EL-AZIZ
Department of Ornamental Plants and Woody Trees, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.
AMAL, A. M. NASR
Department of Ornamental Horticulture, Faculty of Aquaculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
MAYADA, M. EL-SABWAH *
Department of Ornamental Plants and Woody Trees, National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.
SHIMAA, A. SHAABAN
Department of Agricultural Botany, Faculty of Aquaculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
In a postharvest laboratory experiment, to measure the effectiveness of some essential oils (EOs) of Peppermint, Cumin, Thyme, and Cinnamon at the concentrations of 0, 150 and 200 µlL-1 for each and two mixtures, one composed of Peppermint oil (150 µlL-1) and Cumin oil (150 µlL-1), and the other composed of Thyme oil (150 µlL-1) and Cinnamon oil (150 µlL-1), to extend the vase life of Lilium orientalis L. cv. Santander cut spikes. This experiment was done in two consecutive years, 2014 and 2015, between 23rd November and 15th December and was repeated in 2018 for the anatomical studies. It was found that, all the used EOs at either concentration, as well as mixtures had significant positive effects on enhancing most of the features of spike quality, maintaining the photosynthetic pigment content in the leaves of cut spikes, increasing the total carbohydrate content of the spikes, suppressing the growth of microorganisms in the vase solution and enhancing the anatomical structure of the stalk end of cut spikes. Concerning most of these advantages, the mixture of Peppermint oil and Cumin oil had superiority over the mixture of Thyme oil and Cinnamon oil. Accordingly, it can be said that the harmful chemical preservatives used abundantly in floral preservative solutions can be replaced by safe natural materials such as EOs.
Keywords: Lilium orientalis L., cut flowers, postharvest, preservative solutions, essential oils (EOs), peppermint oil, cumin oil, thyme oil, cinnamon oil, essential oils mixtures