Post harvest shelf life influenced by wrapping and packaging techniques in carnation

Carnation is the most important cut flower in the international trade market and is highly perishable in nature and need to be treated and packed properly to improve their post harvest quality and vase life. Cut carnations are very sensitive to ethylene injury. In the existence of ethylene, cut carnation flowers have restriction for their fruitful marketing due to petal enrolling and discoloration. It leads to flower senescence and reduction in vase life. As carnations have ability to rehydrate after transportation, its flower quality during long distance transportation should be maintained. The experiment was conducted by wrapping the flowers with cellophane sheets, polyethylene, polypropylene, butter paper and corrugated thin sheets and packed in corrugated fibre board boxes during transport of flowers to long distant market. Among the wrapping materials compared, polyethylene sleeve of 100 gauge thickness was superior and it was associated with highest water uptake (15.38 g), water balance (8.78 g), fresh weight change (176.29 per cent), anthocyanin (1.352 mg/g) and carotenoid content (0.056 mg/g) and the lowest transpirational loss of water (10.26 g). This wrapping technique ensured minimum physical damage, physiological loss in weight (39.62 per cent), membrane integrity (80.64 per cent), peroxidase activity (0.023 units/g fresh weight) and extended the vase life to 15.67 days when compared to control the flowers remained fresh for 7.0 days only.