Poscosecha de flores de corte y medio ambiente

Abstract

It has been determined that a third of the life of cut flowers is influenced by pre-harvest environment, while the remaining two thirds for the management and the conditions after cutting. The transport of flowers over long distances has increased because countries like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Australia, Chile, Thailand, South Africa, Poland, India and China, have gone into production and have extensive flower for export programs, however distant from the main centers of trade and consumption as the United States of America, Europe and Japan. This implies the need to develop technologies to maintain the quality of cut flowers, such as low temperature storage, the use of chemical preservatives and biocides as chlorine, ethylene inhibitors (TSA), the main element that causes ripening and senescence of flowers and fruit, or the use of mechanical techniques such as cutting the stems under water, immersion in citric acid or water containing commercial products or Pokon, Florissima, among others. The quality of floral products demanded by European consumers is extremely high quality standards of the European Union are defined in the standard 316/68 laying down minimum requirements for cut flowers. This paper analyzes the causes of the senescence of cut flowers and clean preservatives to prolong their vase life as environmentally.