Harvest Index and Refrigeration in Lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum (Raf.) Shin.) ‘Magic Blue’

Abstract

Inflorescences of lisianthus ‘Magic Blue’ were harvested with one, two or three open basal flowers and maintained at 15 or 25 °C; 85 % of relative humidity (RH) to evaluate changes during vase life in order to determine the best harvest index. Inflorescences maintained under 15 °C obtained the highest water uptake, the pure purple color and lightness (h=297.5, C*=32.5 and L*=34.5), consequently better appearance by 13 days than inflorescences stored at 25 °C, which showed regular appearance by 10 days. However, in inflorescences stored at 25 °C the highest number of open flowers was quantified. Inflorescences harvested with greater number of open flowers showed greatest total number of open flowers at the end of the experiment, approximately 1 or 2 flowers are opened during vase life, regardless of the number of flowers with which the inflorescence is harvested. Thus, results indicate that storage at 15 °C increased shelf life of lisianthus ‘Magic Blue’ by 3 days. No effect was observed in quality parameters by the harvest index.