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‘Rio Light Orange’ and ‘Cappa Round Red’ ornamental peppers ( Capsicum annuum L.) are attractive cultivars used as cut stems, but postharvest handling protocols need to be optimized. ‘Rio Light Orange’ stems harvested when most of the fruits were pale orange had the longest vase life, while harvest stage had no effect on vase life of ‘Cappa Round Red’. Stems of both cultivars showed less incidence of wilted foliage during postharvest when stored in water. Cold storage was tolerated for up to 1 week for ‘Rio Light Orange’ and for up to 2 weeks for ‘Cappa Round Red’ for stems kept in water. These cultivars do not appear to be sensitive to ethylene and anti-ethylene agents had a minimal effect on postharvest characteristics of cut stems. Of nine Capsicum cultivars tested, the use of a holding solution had a positive effect on the vase life of ‘Black Pearl’, ‘Rooster’ and ‘Stromboli’ ornamental peppers and increased the number of days foliage remained acceptable for eight of the cultivars. However, use of a commercial hydrator either reduced (one cultivars) or had no effect (eight cultivars) on vase life. Vase life and quality of ‘Rio Light Orange’ and ‘Cappa Round Red’ ornamental peppers stems can be extended by following appropriate postharvest handling procedures and the use of a holding solution can have a beneficial effect on vase life and foliage quality of many additional cultivars of peppers tested in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eremurus, commonly known as Foxtail lily, is a novel, commercially important specialty cut flower, but postharvest handling procedures need to be optimized for longest vase life. Cut inflorescences of ‘Line Dance’ and ‘Tap Dance’ eremurus were evaluated for optimal harvest stage, harvest procedures, effects of anti-ethylene agents, and storage methods and duration. Also, the effects of commercial hydrators, hydrators along with holding preservatives, or continuous use of floral foam saturated with or without commercial preservatives were investigated. Inflorescences of both cultivars harvested with 0 florets open had longer vase life than stems harvested with 3–5 rows of florets opened. Handling of ‘Line Dance’ stems in water after harvest extended the vase life, but reduced the vase life of ‘Tap Dance’ compared to inflorescences handled dry. Application of anti-ethylene agents had no significant effect on eremurus longevity. Inflorescences of both cultivars stored for 1 week had similar vase life as of unstored stems irrespective of dry or wet storage. Storage longer than 1 week greatly reduced the vase life of both cultivars. Use of either or both hydrator and holding preservatives did not result in significant differences in vase life for both cultivars, while pulsing with 10% sucrose supplemented with an antimicrobial agent, isothiazolinone at 0.007 mL L −1 , for 24 h extended vase life by 2.2 or 1.9 d for ‘Line Dance’ and ‘Tap Dance’ inflorescences, respectively, compared with tap water. Inflorescences of ‘Line Dance’ kept continuously in commercial preservatives had longest vase life compared with tap water and use of floral foam reduced vase life. However, inflorescences of ‘Tap Dance’ kept continuously in floral foam saturated with tap water, or just Floralife Clear Professional Flower food had longest vase life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Harvesting with <2cm celosia heads and no snapdragon open floret extended vase life. [•] Celosia did not tolerate dry or wet storage at 3±1°C, but floral foam had no effect. [•] Snapdragon stems could be dry-stored for 2 weeks with no decrease in vase life. [•] Sucrose (5 or 10%) pulsing for 24h doubled snapdragon but reduced celosia vase life. [•] Snapdragon stems kept continuously in preservatives had 2-fold longer vase life than DI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Post-harvest performance of cut viburnum inflorescences was examined in the present study. Harvesting viburnum at three developmental stages resulted in significant differences on flower opening rate (FOR) and flower abscission rate (FAR), but not on vase life. Harvesting at Stage III (>50% open flowers) resulted in highest flower opening percentage, whereas harvesting at Stage I (10–30% open flowers) in significantly lower flower abscission percentage. Pulsing with 20 or 40mg/l AgNO3 for 24h extended vase life by 1.6 and 1.9 days, respectively, compared to the controls. Furthermore, flower abscission was significantly reduced after 20 or 40mg/l AgNO3 treatments by 51 and 62%, respectively, compared to the controls. In contrast, vase solutions containing 100mg/l DICA or 100 and 200mg/l methanol did not extend vase life of cut viburnum inflorescences, but significantly reduced flower abscission. Vase solutions containing 1 or 2% (w/v) sucrose negatively affected vase life, flower opening and flower abscission of viburnum inflorescence. Post-harvest treatments with 1-MCP at 10μl/l in an ethylene-free environment resulted in extension of vase life and in significant reduction of FAR and respiration rates compared to the controls. Vase life of 1-MCP treated inflorescences was increased by 4.2 days compared to the controls. FAR of 1-MCP treated inflorescences remained significantly lower from the second to the eighth day of the vase life period. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Pollination technique did not affect the physico-chemical quality of jackfruit flesh. • Harvesting jackfruit syncarp at 14 WAA is recommended if grower plans to sell jackfruit within 50 km radius. • The physico-chemical quality of jackfruit flesh was affected by the ripening condition and weeks after anthesis Pollination techniques could affect fruit size, whereas optimal maturity stage during harvest could affect postharvest life and the eating quality of fruit. Therefore, the right pollination technique and timing to harvest fruit is an important factor in reducing postharvest losses. The objective of this study was to determine the physico-chemical changes of jackfruit harvested at four different maturity stages and produced from natural and assisted pollination. This study was conducted at a jackfruit commercial farm in Bukit Beruntung, Selangor, Malaysisa. For assisted pollination, the selected female inflorescences were covered with bags before anthesis. Hand pollination was performed by gently rubbing mature male inflorescences over the surface of receptive female inflorescences. For natural pollination, female inflorescences were left to develop into syncarps by themselves. Syncarps at the age of 12, 13, 14 and 15 weeks after anthesis (WAA) were used in this study. For each maturity stage, four syncarps were harvested and allowed to ripen naturally at 27±2 °C and 70−80% relative humidity until a sweet aroma was detected. Physico-chemical characteristics such as colour, firmness, pH, titratable acidity, β-carotene, lycopene content, sugars, organic acid content and antioxidant activity were evaluated. In this study, the pollination technique did not affect the eating quality of jackfruit flesh. However, the physico-chemical quality of jackfruit flesh was affected by ripening level and WAA. The initial stages of syncarp maturity, the L*, C* and ho values, remained unaffected. However, the L*, C* and ho decreased significantly from 14 WAA onwards when the syncarp rind turned fully yellow. This indicated that the rind and bulb colour became lighter and less intense with a green colour changing to yellow during ripening. Rind and flesh firmness decreased as ripening progressed due to cell wall modification and starch hydrolysis when ripening occurred. The β-carotene content of fleshy syncarps harvested at 14 and 15 WAA was higher than those harvested at 12 and 13 WAA. Sugar content such as glucose, fructose and sucrose increased as syncarps ripened. Total phenolic, flavonoid and antioxidant content were higher after syncarps ripened compared to before ripening. The ripe edible parts of jackfruit contain high levels of antioxidant and thereby signify the nutritional value of jackfruit for human health. In conclusion, harvesting stages affect the nutritional quality of jackfruit cv. Tekam Yellow, and it is recommended that the optimal harvesting stage of jackfruit is 14 WAA for local markets and 12 WAA for long-distance markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]