Abstract

Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii L.) is one of the most important cut flowers in the world because it has unique shapes and beautiful colours. Quality and vase life of gerbera cut flowers as one of the best-selling cut flowers in the world are really important. In order to evaluate the effects of post-harvest treatments on qualitative specifics of gerbera cut flowers (Stanza cv.), this research was carried out in research greenhouses of Islamic Azad University, Isfahan Branch in a completely randomized design with 10 treatments and four replications. Treatments included control, lemon extract (6, 12 and 18 ppm), eucalyptus extract (25, 50 and 75 ppm) and nanosilver (0.5, 1 and 2 ppm). Results showed that the lowest stem length and water content belonged to control group. The highest water content, fresh weight, vase life and anthocyanin amount were obtained by 75 ppm of eucalyptus extract and 2 ppm of nanosilver. Also, the largest flowers were observed in all amounts of nanosilver and 50 and 750 ppm concentrations of eucalyptus extract. On the whole, application of nanosilver and eucalyptus extracts improved the quality and stability of gerbera cut flowers.