INFLUENCE OF THE ESSENTIAL OILS ON IMPROVEMENT VASE-LIFE OF CUT Aspidistra elatior

This is study was conducted in the Postharvest Lab of Ornamental Plants and Landscape Gardening Res. Dept., Hort. Res. Inst., Giza, Egypt in the two seasons (2019 and 2020) aiming to determine the appropriate treatment suitable for improving some postharvest characteristics of cut Aspidistra elatior leaves in two experiments. The treatments were: essential oils viz., lavender, oregano and tea tree act as natural preservatives at two concentrations that one and two ml per liter vs. benzyl adenine which act as chemical preservatives at five and ten ppm these treatments were used in the first trial as a holding solutions whilst in the second experiment the essential oils were at three and four ml per liter as foliar treatments then used citric acid at 0.2g/l+ sucrose at 2% to holding solution and furthermore both experiments used distilled water as control. The obtained results exhibited that almost all treatments in the study had a positive impact on cut foliage. The most effective holding treatments wse lavender oil at 2ml/l plus sucrose at 2% as holding solution increased the values of vase life, relative fresh weight, water balance and dry matter despite of it decreased the values of water loss and average bacterial counts. The most efficient foliar treatments was oregano oil at 3ml/l which increased relative fresh weight and water uptake while that tea tree oil at 3ml/l increased vase life and improved water balance and dry matter. Lavender oil at 2ml/l+2% sucrose as holding solution and tea tree oil at 3ml/l as foliar treatment enhanced the photosynthetic pigments, total sugars, phenols and indols. The main efficacy of the essential oils has been proven as antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal. Essential oils improved postharvest characteristics of cut foliage of aspidistra.