Physiological response of Gerbera jamesonii L. cut flowers to the cola and peppermint essence

This research was conducted to investigate the effects of peppermint (Mentha piperita) essence treatment (2000 mg L - 1) and cola soft drink treatment separately and in combination with each other on the vase life and some physiological characteristics of gerbera ( Gerbera jamesonii ) cut flowers with factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with 3 replications. Distilled water used as control. The results sh owed that all treatments significantly increased the vase life, solution absorption, petal carotenoids, flower dia meter, relative fresh weight , and petal total soluble solids in comparison with control. The highest and the lowest vase life were obtained in the peppermint essence plus cola soft drink treatment (250 ml L - 1 ) with 20.33 days and in the control with 9 days, respectively. The highest amount s of carotenoid, flower diameter, relative fresh weight , and total soluble solids w ere obtained in the peppermint essence plus cola soft drink treatment (250 ml L - 1 ). The highest amount s of solution absorption w ere obtained in flowers treated with cola soft drink (250 ml L - 1 ). In general, the results indicated that the peppermint essence a s a safe and natural antimicrobial compound and the cola soft drink as a common drink having sugary and acid materials with easy access and being affordable could be used in gerbera cut flower preservative solution.