Ecofriendly vase solution using green tea and cinnamon extracts for extending the vase life of black centered gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii L.) cv. Intense

Extending the vase life of flowers is a crucial aspect of the floricultural industry. However, to date, inorganic chemicals have been widely and predominantly used in this industry. Therefore, researchers are now in search of effective, eco-friendly and sustainable floral preservatives. Plant based floral preservatives have become the main focus in this direction. The present study was carried out to examine the effectiveness of plant-based extracts as potential viable, ecofriendly floral preservative solutions. The experiment consisted of 3 treatments each of green tea extract (GTE) and cinnamon powder extract (CPE) @ 2, 2.5 and 3 g l-1 and the control. The results showed that treatment CPE (3 g l-1) had the maximum vase life (12.93 days), daily water uptake (16.57 ml-1 2 day), total water uptake (86.91 ml), relative fresh weight (120.59%), MSI (79.44%) and lowest CFU counts (5.12 log10 CFU ml-1) at the end of the experiment. This was followed by GTE (3 g l-1) for all the parameters recorded. The treatments green tea and cinnamon powder extracts were effective and significantly improved the postharvest quality of flowers over control.