Postharvest Conservation of Ornamental Pineapple (Ananas spp.)

Within horticulture, floriculture takes a very important role due to the high commercial value of cut flowers, yet they are highly perishable. Among the cut plants recently introduced to the Mexican market are ornamental pineapples (Ananas spp..  It is necessary to generate information in terms of improving their aesthetic value and reducing quality loss during postharvest handling delaying their senescence. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of preservative solutions, interacting with the use of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) in sachets, in the vase life of cut ornamental pineapples. The solutions used were: T1: 8-Hidoxyquinoleine citrate (8-HQC) (200 ppm) + sucrose (1%) + cytokinin (Cystar 0.5 mL·L^-1);T2 8-HQC (200 ppm) + Cystar (0.5 5 mL·L^-1); T3: 8-HQC (200 ppm) + sucrose (1%); T4: Water (control). Physical, chemical and physiological evaluations were performed. The inclusion of 1-MCP sachets, reduced ethylene production. The best solution was the one including 8-Hidoxyquinoleine citrate (200 ppm) + sucrose (1%) + cytokinin (Cystar 0.5 mL·L^-1), either with or without 1-MCP, as there was an increase in anthocyanin and carotenoid content , and a decrease in chlorophyll content, lower weight loss and respiration rate, maintaining good quality for up to 28 days.