Impact of Storage Conditions on Morphology and Physiology of Corms of Two Gladiolus Cultivars

Storage conditions influence quality of gladious corms thereby affecting quality of flowers. In the present study, the effects of pre-storage curing and different temperature conditions on morphological, anatomical and physiological characteristics of corms and flowers of two cultivars were studied. Application of pre-storage curing plus one or two month cold treatment at 5°C accelerated morphological, anatomical and physiological changes in corms. These corms had less starch and more soluble sugars at the end of storage period comparing to the corms stored at the other conditions. These changes in corms with two months cold treatment at 5°C were significant. The corms stored during whole storage period at 13 and 5°C showed high level of starch and low level of soluble sugars. The observations of both cultivars followed the same trend.