Key Postharvest Duties for

Key Grower Level

Postharvest Personnel
Dr. George Staby
Perishables Research Organization
February 26, 2014
Bogot, Colombia
Getting information after today
George Stabys e-mail address
georgestaby@chainoflifenetwork.org
English vs. Computer Spanish
http://translate.google.com/
Answering questions is free (so ask!)
Questions (e-mail in either language)
Answers (in English and computer Spanish)
Care and handling eManual (more on this subject
later)
Key topics for todays program
Temperature (shade, precooler, color)
Water relations (hydration, dry handling)
Ethylene (importance, Florel test)
New product (elicitor, stimulator, residues)
eManual (postharvest information on your own
computer / mobile device that you can obtain by e-
mail)
Three key factors affecting the
postharvest performance of flowers
Temperature
Temperature
Temperature
Poor storage/transport temperatures increase
respiration and heat produced, while reducing
vase life
Temperature
(degrees C)
Respiration and
heat formed
(carnations &
roses)
Increase in heat
& respiration
compared to
0 C
0 92 -
10 280 3.0 times higher
20 2438 26.5 times higher
30 4794 52.1 times higher
Some average flower arrival temperatures in
Miami
Origin Crop Boxes F C
Bogot Roses 30,329 61.3 16.3
Bogot Carns 15,856 60.3 15.7
Medellin Mums 8,485 61.9 16.6
Quito Roses 3,948 63.4 17.4
Quito Other 3,692 63.6 17.5
Possible vase life reductions when shipped
via Miami or similar airport
u
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
0 12 24 36 48 60 72
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 24 48 72
Some temperature related factors you
should (must) control in postharvest
Shade in greenhouse staging areas
Shade from greenhouse to classification
Light (white) colored plastic boxes
Rack cooling initially or hydration in cooler
Hydration / STS before grading / bunching
Forced air precooling after bunching but before
shipping (no more hydration)
Water relations
Failure in water relations
Water uptake < transpiration (loss)
Xylem occlusion
Emboli (air)
Dirt / debris
Bacteria
Physiological plugs
The slides you will see on the screen could not be
put into the handout
Hydration tests - team approach
Test results presented in the following tables are a
consequence of the combined efforts between Bill
DeBoer, laboratory scientist at Syndicate Sales, and
myself, as a consultant working with Syndicate
Sales
E-mail address for Bill DeBoer:
wdeboer@syndicatesales.com
Internal (inside stems) vs.external (in
solutions) blockage levels
External levels mean little unless enough gets
inside the water conducting stem tissue (xylem) to
block water movement up the stems
Therefore, internal blockage levels can be a better
predictor of hydration treatment effectiveness and
subsequent flower quality than hydration solution
levels
Measuring internal rose stem blockage
levels (bottom 2.5 cm)
3 rose cultivars hydrated 1 or 24 hours
Products tested (all freshly made*)
HydraPlus
Hydraflor 100
RVB / Pro Series 1
Chlorine + citric acid* (homemade)
HydraQuik dip then into plain water
Quick Dip then into plain water
Relative internal blockage levels in the bottom 2.5
cm of rose stems
(blockage levels per gram (~2 cm) stem tissue)
Product
Inside blockage
after
one hour hydration
Inside blockage
after
24 hour hydration
HydraPlus 268 2,302
Hydraflor 100 43,189 285,446
RVB / Pro Series 1 2,465 69,020
Chlorine / citrate 6,332 1,111
Quick Dip* 4,081 1,068
HydraQuik* 45 36
Average 9,397 59,831
Commercial implications
When treated with HydraQuik dip, the water
conducting tissues of cut flowers have about 1,010
times less blockage (and therefore are about 1,010
times cleaner) compared to the average of the
common homemade chlorine-based and purchased
commercial hydration products used in this test
Fresh weight increase as influenced by
product and hydration time
Product
Fresh weight increase after
one hour hydration (g)
Fresh weight increase after
24 hours hydration (g)
HydraPlus
2.1 6.4
Hydraflor 100
2.2 6.5
RVB / Pro Series 1
1.9 6.2
Chlorine / citrate
1.6 6.1
Quick Dip
2.7 6.5
HydraQuik
2.7 6.2
Average
2.2 6.3
Vase life (days) as influenced by product
and hydration time
Product
Average vase life
1 hour hydration
Average vase life
24 hours hydration
HydraPlus
6.4 6.3
Hydraflor 100
6.3 5.8
RVB / Pro Series 1
6.2 6.4
Chlorine / citrate
6.0 5.7
Quick Dip
5.9 6.0
HydraQuik
6.7 5.8
Average
6.3 6.0
Commercial implications
One hour hydration is generally sufficient but 1-2
hours is what to aim for
One hydration treatment before bunching
No hydration treatments after bunching
Are there exceptions like very hot days?
Stem ends even prior to dip version
Bunching considerations
(benefits for receivers)
Cut stem ends even (all touch flat surface at the
same time)
Stem tie located at least 10 cm up from cut ends
Not hook ties (demonstrate)
No more than 1/3 foliage removed
Hydration before bunching, not after
Rose vase life as influenced by plus or
minus re-cutting at receiver level
(bunching technique relationship)
All hydration
products
Average vase life
not re-cut
(days)
Average vase life re-
cut
(days)
Average 5.8 6.5
Commercial implications
As expected, re-cutting stems at receiver level is
important
Previous research showed that re-cutting stems at
receiver level is generally even more important if an
aluminum sulfate containing hydration solution is
used
Hence, make sure the bunches you make are re-
cutter friendly
Summary: Hydration time (1-2 hours) and
use proper hydration solution
Hydrated only once
For everyday harvest and for flowers that are to be
stored at grower level (hydrate once after storage,
before shipping)
Less costly because less water, chemicals, storage
space, and labor are utilized
Petal bruising / Botrytis example with roses
Cleanliness
Maintaining clean buckets and all solutions in
which cut flowers are placed is critical (40% rule)
If you are not willing to drink out a bucket, it is too
dirty for flowers!
Another advantage of more dry handling is that
there are fewer buckets and solutions to keep clean
Apply protective treatments before
shipping
Ensure that flowers are properly treated with
anti-ethylene, anti-yellowing, anti-water stress,
enhancers, and/or fungicides prior to shipping
to minimize postharvest losses and improve
shelf life.
Lets review anti-ethylene and then enhancers
What is ethylene and how can it be
measured?
Ethylene is a gas that is naturally produced by
flowers and plants
Odorless at harmful concentrations
Can only effectively measure using expensive
laboratory equipment
What are some major sources of
ethylene?
Many flowers, fruit, and some vegetables
Exhaust from gasoline, diesel, or propane
Smoke from frost prevention and garbage burning
fires
Physically damaged flowers
Disease infected flowers
Banana ripening rooms (major problem)
Some reducing / preventing ethylene
damage treatments
Growing resistant species and cultivars (Florel test,
liquid ethylene)
Temperature
Anti-ethylene treatments (STS and MCP)
Minimize handling to reduce bruising
No hydration after bunching roses
Disease control
Cultivar / variety example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irxVYY9D6qs
Can do using Florel test, which will be explained
shortly
Temperature has a dramatic effect on how
waxflowers respond to ethylene
Ethylene
(ppm)
Temp (F) 12 hours 24 hours 36 hours 48 hours
0 35 0 0 0 0
1 35 0 0 0 0
10 35 0 0 0 0
100 35 0 0 0 0
0 68 0 0 0 0
1 68 40 84 72 78
10 68 58 98 100 98
100 68 72 98 100 100
ethylene treatment 0 C
H
2
O STS MCP
ethylene treatment 20 C
H
2
O STS MCP
The unfortunate and sad truth
Not all STS / MCP treated flowers are protected
from ethylene because:
applied improperly (sachet example)
chemical not active (STS)
time from treatment too long (MCP)
treatment time too short
treatment temperature too low
just a marketing ploy (never really applied)
Spray bottle and Florel
Florel test for ethylene sensitivity and STS
/ MCP effectiveness
Find Florel sources on Internet and purchase one
pint (500 ml), which is enough for many dozens of
tests
Amazon.com presently sells it for less than $20.00
per pint (500 ml)
Use at least 1 bunch per test
Spray half of the flowers to run-off with one ml (30
drops) Florel per 100 ml water
Florel test for ethylene sensitivity and STS
/ MCP effectiveness
Place flowers in vases on table and observe over
the next few days
The sprayed and non sprayed flowers should look
the same if the MCP or STS treatments were
properly done and/or the flowers / plants are not
ethylene sensitive
If the sprayed ones die first, they were not properly
treated with STS or MCP
Identify and market every floral crop by
cultivar / variety name
Red car and cerveza examples
If one does not know the cultivar name of a flower,
how can a grower determine if it should or should
not be used again?
At the same time, if consumers do not know the
cultivar name of a flower, how can they determine
if it should or should not be purchased again?
New product (not named yet) history
Food industry (approved as a wash for use on
certain food crops like fresh tomatoes)
Improves flowers / plants abilities to resist certain
postharvest disorders (elicitor, stimulator,
enhancer)
Improves looks of flowers and foliage (cleaning
agent, great wetting actions)
Demonstration
Some new product data
(damaged rose petals per flower)
Rose cultivar Water Switch New Product
Jandiro 0 0.4 0.08
Freedom 0.6 0.3 0.3
Chardonnay 0 0.5 0
Variance 1.9 5.3 9.6
Rosita Vendela 7.5 2.2 2.1
Average 2.0 2.2 2.1
eManual
In English (but can use free translators)
http://www.chainoflifenetwork.org/
Includes about 175 pages and over 900 hyperlinks to
articles
Syndicate Sales sponsored special Free copy for all
in attendance today
I will send eManual to you by e-mail
Need legible names and e-mail addresses
Review
Harvest (shade, dry, white, time)
Hydrate (dips), STS, cooler, (1-2 hours)
Grading and bunching (tie, cut stem ends, leaves,
sleeve, dry)
Packing (+/- plastic, pregnant, strapping)
Precooling (condensation)
Ship (more on the same day harvested)
eManual will be e-mailed to you
The benefits of holes in plastic sleeves
Thanks to Syndicate Sales / Elena Diaz
for organizing todays program
Talk the Talk or Walk the Walk?
Proactive or Reactive?
Questions and/or Comments (now)?
Questions and/or Comments (future)?