Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora Tzvelev.) has earned tremendous popularity as an ornamental flower crop. It is valued as a potted plant and is the commercially cultivated cut flower crop in many countries and widely grown in open fields in India for their loose flowers. Chrysanthemum has longer post harvest life and it continues to look attractive even when semi dry. It has wide range of colours, shape and sizes. However, mainly for the sake of decoration of surroundings and participating in flower shows, there is a need for evaluation of chrysanthemum cultivars, suitable for post harvest quality. The present experiment was carried out at Horticultural Research Station, Department of Horticulture, Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore during the year 1999 – 2000. Ten varieties namely Ravikiran, Chandrika Yellow Star, Red Gold, Nilima, Kasturishaventigae, Cassa, Arka Swarna, Arka Ravi and Button type local were used for this experiment and it was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) replicated thrice. Fully opened flowers were harvested. Flower stems were cut atleast four inches above the soil line to avoid taking woody plant tissues. Immediately Evaluation of post harvest quality of some cultivars of chrysanthemum V. Baskaran1, R. Jayanthi, T. Janakiram2 and K. Abirami1 Department of Horticulture, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore- 560065, Karnataka, India E-mail: vbaski01@gmail.com ABSTRACT A study was conducted to evaluate the performance of ten chrysanthemum cultivars for better post harvest quality under open field condition at University of Agricultural Sceinces, Bangalore. Flowers were harvested at fully open stage or nearly so. The results showed that the maximum stalk girth (0.32 cm) was recorded in Cv. Cassa and the maximum flower diameter (8.14 cm) was recorded in cv. Ravikiran, Cultivar Cassa recorded the maximum flower weight (3.59 g). Maximum number of ray florets were recorded by cv. Nilima (253.2). The maximum length of ray florets were recorded in cv. Ravikiran (3.96 cm). Maximum fresh weight, final weight and water loss (88.33, 40.63 and 47.67g respectively) from the spray type flowers were recorded in cv. Arka Swarna. Longer vase life of 16 days was also recorded in cv. Arka Swarna. Based on the performance studies it was observed that Arka Swarna, Ravikiran, Red gold, Nilima and Arka Ravi performed better post harvest quality and may be selected for cut flower production. Key words: Chrysanthemum, post harvest quality, vase life 1 Present address: Directorate of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants Research (DMAPR), Boriavi, Anand, Gujarat 2 Division of Floriculture & Landscaping, IARI, New Delhi- 110012 after harvest, stems of the flowers were graded based on their flower stalk length. Post harvest quality was evaluated under room conditions. On every alternate day, stem ends were cut. Observation on flower stalk length, stalk girth, flower diameter, flower disc diameter, number of ray florets per head, length of ray florets, fresh weight of spray, final weight of the spray, water loss of the spray and total vase life were recorded. Vase life was considered to be terminated when colour fading or petal wilting was noticed. Flower colours were identified by using the Royal Horticulture Colour Chart (Anon, 1938). Data were recorded and statistically analysed. Significant differences were observed for the various quantitative traits (Table 1). The maximum length of the stalk was observed in Nilima (17.52 cm) and the minimum length was observed in Button Type Local (4.67 cm). Stalk length variation among different cultivars may be due to their genetic characters. This has been reported by Halevy and Mayak (1981). The maximum stalk girth was observed in cv. Cassa (0.32 cm) and the minimum was in Button Type Local (0.11 cm). The highest flower diameter (8.14 cm) was recorded in cv. Ravikiran and the Short communication J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 5 (1): 81-83, 2010 82 lowest was in Button Type Local (2.07 cm). The diameter of the disc varied from 0.11 cm in button type local to 1.38 cm in cv. Arka Ravi. The highest flower weight (3.59g) was recorded in cv. Cassa, while button type local exhibited the lowest value (0.48g) among the cultivars studied. Number of ray florets per head showed a very wide range of variation ranging from a minimum of 47.33 in cv. Cadda and maximum of 253.20 in Cv. Nilima. The cultivars Button type local (0.74 cm) and Ravi Kiran (3.96 cm) recorded the lowest and highest length of ray florets respectively. Similar type of variations were observed in 324 cultivars of chrysanthemum collected from different sources (Negi et al, 1978). Table 2 revealed that cv. Arka Swarna recorded the maximum fresh weight, final weight and water loss (88.33, 40.63 and 47.67 g respectively) from the spray type flowers. Increase in fresh weight can occur only when the rate of water absorption is greater than the transpiration rate. (Rogers, 1973). Water loss due to decline in uptake of water coupled with transpiration leads to water deficit, which ultimately reduces turgidity in cut flower. This has been reported by Halevy and Mayak (1981). Cultivar Arka Swarna recorded longer duration of vase life with 16 days followed by cv. Ravikiran (10 days) and cv. Red gold (9 days). Shortest duration of vase life was recorded in Cv. Cassa (4 days). This might be due to varietal differences among the cultivars and may be an inherent trait (Gondhali et al, 1997). Zagory and Reid (1986) and Weitte et al (1991) reported that stem plugging due to microorganisms reduces the vase life of cut flowers. Thus, the present study reveals that cultivars like Arka Swarna, Ravikiran, Red Gold, Nilima and Arka Ravi recorded better post harvest quality and may be selected for cut flower production. While cultivars like Cassa, Chandrika, Yellow star and Kasturi shaventigae exhibited least post harvest quality and so could be selected for loose flower purpose. REFERENCES Anonymous, 1938. Horticultural Colour Charts. The British Colour Council in Collabration with the Horticulture Society, Henry Stone and Suns Limited. Banburry, United Kingdom Table 1. Mean performance of Chrysanthemum cultivars for different quantitative traits Cutivars Stalk length Stalk girth Flower Flower Disc Flower Number of Length of (cm) (cm) Diameter Diameter Weight (g) ray florets ray floret (cm) (cm) per head (cm) Ravikiran 14.62 0.28 8.14 0.28 3.27 231.00 3.96 Chandrika 11.22 0.17 4.49 0.62 1.28 213.70 1.49 Yellow star 15.05 0.23 5.85 0.75 2.46 248.00 3.05 Redgold 13.20 0.19 6.40 1.25 2.26 149.20 2.78 Nilima 17.52 0.26 5.32 0.19 3.08 253.20 2.36 Kasturi shaventige 7.89 0.19 3.28 0.41 0.80 204.83 1.23 Cassa 14.81 0.32 4.78 1.08 3.59 47.33 2.28 Arka Swarna 7.03 0.19 4.22 0.83 1.64 209.33 1.29 Arka Ravi 15.58 0.22 5.41 1.38 2.36 79.50 2.17 Button type local 4.67 0.11 2.01 0.11 0.48 116.33 0.74 Mean 12.16 0.22 4.99 0.69 2.12 175.24 2.13 S.Em± 0.92 0.01 0.25 0.08 0.30 13.27 0.09 CD (P=0.05) 2.75 0.03 0.75 0.25 0.89 39.44 0.29 CV (%) 13.21 9.34 8.79 21.52 24.48 13.12 7.95 Table 2. Performance of Chrysanthemum cultivars for vase life Cultivars Fresh Final Water Total weight weight loss vase life (g) (g) (g) (days) Ravikiran 29.27 22.27 7.00 10.00 Chandrika 26.43 11.53 14.90 6.00 Yellow star 24.53 17.43 7.10 8.00 Redgold 35.02 18.53 16.67 9.00 Nilima 29.43 19.53 9.90 9.00 Kasturi shaventige 12.33 9.46 2.87 8.00 Cassa 26.80 11.60 15.20 4.00 Arka Swarna 88.33 40.63 47.67 16.00 Arka Ravi 23.47 11.73 11.73 9.00 Button type local 22.40 9.43 12.97 9.00 Mean 31.82 17.22 14.60 8.70 CV(%) 2.58 2.09 6.33 11.68 SEm± 0.47 0.21 0.53 0.59 CD (P=0.05) 0.41 0.62 1.59 1.74 J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 5 (1): 81-83, 2010 Baskaran et al 83 Gondhali, B.V., Yadav, E.D. and Dhemre, J.K. 1997. Evaluation of chrysanthemum for cut flowers. Orissa J..Hort., 25: 10-13 Halevy, A.H. and Mayak, S. 1981. Senescence and post harvest physiology of cut flowers, Part-II, Hort. Rev., 3: 59-143 Negi, S.S., Nancharaiah and Raghava, S.P.S. 1978. Some promising varieties of chrysanthemum. South Indian Hort., 26: 22-24 Rogers, M.N. 1973. A historical and critical review of post harvest physiology research on cut flowers. Hort. Sci., 8: 189-194 Weitle, Y., De. D. Van, W.G. 1991. The mode of action of bacteria in the vascular of cut rose flowers. Acta Hort., 298: 167-170 Zagory, D. and Reid, M.S. 1986. Role of vase solution microorganisms in the life of cut flowers. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci., 111: 154-158 (MS Received 12 March 2009, Revised 17 August 2009) J. Hortl. Sci. Vol. 5 (1): 81-83, 2010 post harvest quality of chrysanthemum