1-MCP maintains the postharvest quality of Dendrobium Sonia Bom

Tajidin, N.E., Azimah, H. , Ahmad, S.H., Hidayat, T. C. Crop Science Department and 2Land Management Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

INTRODUCTION
Most of Dendrobium hybrid are sensitive to ethylene as it plays role in floral senescence &ovary development (Ketsa & Rugkong, 1999). The rise of endogenous ethylene of Dendrobium orchid happen after pollination and tends to wilt as soon as pollination happen. Inflorescences exposition to exogenous ethylene, the flowers will led to the senescence. 1-MCP is one of commercialized ethylene inhibitor widely used in cut flower industry which is a non-toxic gas bind at ethylene receptor & avoiding ethylene action. A treatment with 1-MCP can increase the vase life and postharvest quality of Dendrobium orchid. determine the effect of 1-MCP & ethylene on postharvest quality and vase life of Dendrobium orchid Sonia boom.

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

9 8 7 Vase life (days) 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 b b Total chlorophyll content *mg(g FW)-1] 1 0.8 b 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 2.5 a Anthocyanin content (A) a 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Control Ethylene Treatment 1-MCP + ethylene Control Ethylene Treatment 1-MCP + ethylene b c b a 1.2 a a

Water uptake (%)

Figure 1. Effects of control, ethylene and 1-MCP+ethylene on vase life, anthocianin content, total chlorophyll content and water uptake of cut Dendrobium Sonia Boom. Means with different letter(s) were significant by LSD at P< 0.05.

METHODOLOGY
Harvest inflorescences of Dendrobium Sonia Boom with 60-70% open floret between 10-11 a.m in Bukit Changgang, Banting, Selangor Packed inflorescence in the sealed black PE bag (62 x 75 x 45 cm) with: tablet of 1-MCP were powdered, mixed with dH2O 10 l/L of C2H4 were injected in the PE bag After 24 h, open PE bag & trim inflorescence to 12 cm from first open floret Put inflorescence in test tube with 30 ml vase solution & held with cotton wool for the purpose holding its straight Kept inflorescences in the laboratory with 25C temperature, 78% relative humidity & 6.57 mol light intensity Data were collected at 0, 2, 4 & 6 days of storage: Vase life Antocyanin content (A) Water uptake (%) Total chlorophyll content (mg/g FW) L*, C* and h of petal Water loss (%)

Flower drop were obvious on Sonia boom treated with ethylene on the day 4 as 1-MCP + ethylene and control, flower started to drop at 5 and 6 days of storage, respectively. Vase life, anthocyanin content and water uptake in Sonia boom treated with 1-MCP + ethylene is significantly higher than control and ethylene treatment 1-MCP effectively blocked ethylene action in a range of plant systems, including abscission of phlox flowers (Porat et al., 1995) Pre-treatment with 1-MCP could reduce the damage of membrane in fresh product in retaining bract discolouration (Hershkovits et al., 2005) as anthocyanin often degraded after harvest, followed by petal browning (Underhill and Critchley, 1994). Total chlorophyll content in Sonia boom treated with ethylene significantly lower than control and 1-MCP + ethylene. Ethylene accelerates chlorophyll degradation of leaves and stems in many cut flowers (Ferrante et al., 2006). In other hand, 1-MCP retarded chlorophyll degradation as it prevent leaves and stem turning yellow.
Table 1. Effects of ethylene & 1-MCP on L*, C* & h of petal during six days in vase solution. Factors Control 1-MCP + ethylene Ethylene 0 2 4 6 Interaction L* 33.48 a 31.52 b 31.57 b 32.48 a 31.90 a 32.02 a 32.38 a ns C* 31.07 a 32.72 a 28.35 b 33.25 a 32.62 a 28.80 b 28.18 b ns h 338.17 ab 336.72 b 339.52 a 340.65 a 338.50 b 337.25 bc 336.13 c ns Weight loss (%) 27.80 a 25. 94 b 28.24 a 25.83 b 27.80 a 27.56 a 27.90 a ns

Day 0 Control

Day 2

Day 4

Day 6

Means within a column followed by a different letter were significantly different at P= 0.05 using least significant difference (LSD).

CONCLUSION

Sonia boom petal colour treated with ethylene causes colour fading (Cameron & Reid, 2001) as it is significantly lower than others. During 6 days of storage : C* and h values decreased indicating that peel colour changed from purple to blue-purple. This could be due to preferential chlorophyll degradation and accumulation of anthocyanin, betalains and carotenoids giving rise to the characteristic dark colours of commodation (Steyn, 2009). Cut flower treated with 1-MCP is significantly lower than others in weight loss. By applying 1-MCP can minimize % weight loss compared to control and ethylene treatment (Asil et al., 2012).

The ethylene action inhibitor, 1-MCP proved effective at decreasing rates of petal abscission after exposure to ethylene. Petals from Sonia boom treated with 1-MCP starts to abscised at day 6 of storage days and also have longer vase life than other treatments, leaving enough petals to ensure that saleable product on the market.

1-MCP + Ethylene

REFERENCES
Ichimura, K., Shimizu, H., Hiraya, T., and Hisamatsu, T.,2001. Effect of 1-methyl cyclopropene (1-MCP) on the vase life of cut carnation, Delphinium and sweet pen flower. Bull. Natl. Inst. Flor. Sci. 2:1 (8). Porat, R., Shlomo, E., Serek, M., Sisler, E.C., Boroshov, A., 1995. 1-methyl cyclopropene inhibits ethylene action in cut phlox flowers. Postharvest Biol. Technol. 6, 313319. Jones, M. L., Kim, E. S., Newman, S. E., 2001. Role of Ethylene and 1-MCP in flower development and petal abscission in Zonal Geraniums. Hort. Science 36(7): 1305-1309 Steyn, J. S. (2009). Physiology and function of fruit pigments: an ecological and horticultural perspective. Horticulturae. 16, 201-211. Ketsa, S. and Rungkon, A. 2000. Ethylene production, senescene and ethylene sensitivity of Dendrobium Pompadour flowers following pollination. J. Hort. Biotech. 75: 149-153. Asil, M. H., Karimi, M., Zakizadeh, H. 2012. !-MCP improves the postharvest quality of cut spray carnation (Dianthus caryphyllus L.) Oprima flowers. Hort. Environ. Biotechnol. 54(1): 58-62

Ethylene

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Special thanks to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Siti Hajar Ahmad and everybody who was abundantly helpful and offered invaluable assistance, support and guidance.