Longevity and sensitivity of heliconia ‘Golden Torch’ to exogenous ethylene

In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the effect of exogenous ethylene on longevity and sensitivity of heliconia ‘Golden Torch’ stored under ambient conditions. Inflorescences were harvested with two expanded bracts and one closed bract, from a commercial area, located in Petrolina, Pernambuco State, Brazil. The treatments consisted of doses of ethephon (0, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 and 1,000 mg L-1) and evaluation time (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 days, at 20.4 ± 3.7 oC and 49 ± 11% RH). The experimental design was a completely randomized, in a 6 x 6 factorial arrangement with four replications of four stems. It was observed a decrease on fresh weight, appearance, lightness and chroma of bracts when the concentrations of ethephon and evaluation time increased. The Hue angle of the bracts that received 100 and 1.000 mg L-1 of ethephon indicated a lighter orange color. The water uptake of the inflorescences decreased with storage time, independent of the treatments with ethephon. The longevity of inflorescences was reduced only with the higher doses: 100 and 1.000 mg L-1 of ethephon, which restricted it to two and four days, respectively. For those reasons, the heliconia ‘Golden Torch’ bracts were characterized as low sensitive to ethylene.