ASPECTS OF CARBOHYDRATE BALANCE DURING FLORET OPENING IN FREESIA

Authors:	U. van Meeteren, H. van Gelder, A.C. van de Peppel
Keywords:	Flower opening, sugars, starch
Abstract: Endogenous carbohydrates were investigated during development of florets of Freesia hybrida 'Polaris' from inflorescences attached to the plant as well as from cut inflorescences placed in water. During development at the plant the amount of glucose, fructose and sucrose increased about 15–20 times; maximum was reached at anthesis. For detached inflorescences, at anthesis the amount of sugars in the 5th floret (from the base of the inflorescence) was only about 20% as compared to attached inflorescences, however, opening of the florets at position 5 was normal. The increase of sugars during development of buds of cut inflorescences could not only be accounted for by starch hydrolysis. Decreasing the stem length of cut inflorescences greatly reduced the increase in dry weight and in total carbohydrates of the buds. However, there was no influence of stem length on the number of flowering florets/inflorescence. It is questionable whether variations in flowering percentage in cut flowers placed in water are correlated with differences in endogenous carbohydrates.
Full Text (PDF format, 260353 bytes) Citation Download Adobe Acrobat Reader (free software to read PDF files)