Effect of Internal Anthocyanin of Petals and External Sucrose on Some Post-Harvest Traits of Four Carnation Cut Flower Cultivars

The amount of internal anthocyanin in carnation cut flowers may be one of the factors affecting the vase life of colored carnations. Two experiments were conducted to examine the effect of changing the internal anthocyanin concentration in petals and the using of external sucrose on vase life of four cultivars of carnation cut flowers in this study. Four carnation cultivars were used including: white (White Liberty), yellow (Yellow Liberty), pink (Tabor), and red (Grand Slam). In the first experiment, the changes in internal anthocyanin of petals and its effect on vase life of the four cultivars were investigated. Different concentrations of external sucrose (0, 2 and 4%) on post-harvest traits of four mentioned cultivars were evaluated in the second experiment. The results of the first experiment showed that the possibility effectiveness of internal anthocyanin on vase life of carnation. Vase life of the cultivars without internal anthocyanin (white and yellow) was twice (14 days) as long as that of the red and pink cultivars containing anthocyanin (7 days). Results of the second experiment indicated that external sucrose improved the vase life traits. Moreover, the lowest vase life was observed in red cultivar (13.7 days) without the using of external sucrose and the highest vase life was found in the pink cultivar (18 days) treated with 4% external sucrose. In general, increasing in internal anthocyanin in the absence of external sucrose reduced vase life. Using of external sucrose increased the vase life of cultivars containing more anthocyanin.