Physiological response of Gerbera jamesonii L. cut flowers to the cola and peppermint essence.

This research was conducted to investigate the effects of peppermint (Mentha piperita) essence treatment (2000 mg L-1) and cola soft drink treatment separately and in combination with each other on the vase life and some physiological characteristics of gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii) cut flowers with factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. Distilled water used as control. The results showed that all treatments significantly increased the vase life, solution absorption, petal carotenoids, flower diameter, relative fresh weight, and petal total soluble solids in comparison with control. The highest and the lowest vase life were obtained in the peppermint essence plus cola soft drink treatment (250 ml L -1) with 20.33 days and in the control with 9 days, respectively. The highest amounts of carotenoid, flower diameter, relative fresh weight, and total soluble solids were obtained in the peppermint essence plus cola soft drink treatment (250 ml L -1). The highest amounts of solution absorption were obtained in flowers treated with cola soft drink (250 ml L-1). In general, the results indicated that the peppermint essence as a safe and natural antimicrobial compound and the cola soft drink as a common drink having sugary and acid materials with easy access and being affordable could be used in gerbera cut flower preservative solution.