Characterization of the role of sodium nitroprusside, a nitric oxide donor, on vase life and postharvest attributes of Alstroemeria aurea ‘Orange Queen’

Senescence is the important physiological process that impact the quality of cut flowers. Alstroemeria is one of the major cut flowers that has received a lot of attention in recent years due to its high yield, extremely beautiful flowers and variety of colors. In order to improve the vase life and other postharvest characteristics of Alstroemeria cut flowers ‘Orange Queen’, preharvest foliar application of sodium nitroprusside, nitric oxide (NO) donor at concentrations of 0, 50, 100 and 200 µM and short-term treatment (pulsing) after harvest at the same concentration were performed as a factorial trial base on a completely randomized design. In this experiment, vase life, solution uptake, relative fresh weight, relative water content, malondialdehyde and catalase activity were measured. It was observed that nitric oxide improved postharvest characteristics. Foliar application of 100 µM sodium nitroprusside (SNP) along with pulsing of 50 µM SNP interdependent on vase life time period was observed to be the optimal dose for improving relative fresh weight (RFW), relative solution uptake (RSU), relative water content (RWC), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) in Alstroemeria cut flowers. Vase life markedly extended by preharvest application of 100 µM SNP + 50 µM SNP as pulsing from 7 day to 16 day and thus those inducer effects were dose- and time-dependent. Taken together, these results suggest that SNP plays a critical role in multiple modes of action to prolong vase life via maintaining RFW, RWC, scavenging free radical in term of enzymes antioxidant, inhibiting lipid peroxidation in ‘Orange Queen’ of Alstroemeria cut flowers.