Assessment the effect of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) essential oil on the vase life and quality of rose cut flowers

The vase life of cut flowers is one of the most important quality characteristics of cut flowers, which is considered in determining the value of flowers and evaluating new cultivars. Plant essential oils are natural anti-microbial substances, and with the use of these compounds, the life after harvesting of plant products such as fruits, vegetables and cut flowers increases. In order to evaluate the effect of cumin essential oil on increasing the shelf life of rose cut flowers, this experiment was conducted. The study was implemented with three concentrations of cumin essential oil (100,200 and 300 mg/liter) and in three times (5, 10 and 15 days) with three replications. In zero concentration as control treatment, cut flowers were treated with distilled water. Based on the obtained results, the main effects of using different levels of cumin essential oil on different traits of roses showed a significant difference at the level of 5%. In the investigation of the main effects of the treatments, different characteristics of roses, including relative fresh weight, ratio of fresh weight to dry weight of petals, flower diameter, stem diameter, chlorophyll content, anthocyanin content, catalase and peroxidase enzymes activity, water content, soluble sugar content and the absorption rate of the solution showed the highest average in the application of cumin essential oil at the rate of 300 mg/liter, and the lowest average of these traits was related to the control (no use of cumin essential oil).