The study of the effect of some natural preservative solutions on the vase life of Cycad's leaves

In order to investigate vase life of cut foliages of cycad, the current research was carried out using various treatments of natural preservative solutions. Silver nitrate and sucrose were added to all treatments except the control treatment. Preservative solutions included coconut juice with two levels of 50% and 100%, lemon juice with concentrations of 0, 100, 250 and 400 ppm, silver nitrate with fixed concentration of 40 ppm and sucrose with fixed concentration of 3%. The combination of coconut juice and lemon juice resulted in 4 treatments. The experiment was carried out in 3 replications each containing 6 cut leaves. The aim of the experiment was increasing the vase life of cut foliages as the most important parameter. Some measured parameters during about four months of the study were vase life, chlorophyll content (chla, chlb, chl total), carotenoid, total soluble solid, water loss, external factors like changing, and fresh and dry weight of foliages. Among natural treatments, the best treatments for cycad cut foliages were 100 ppm lemon juice with 50% coconut juice which caused cycad’s cut leaves to preserve for 89 days (against 57 days in the control treatment).