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EFFECTS OF REFRIGERATED AND NONREFRIGERATED TRANSPORTATION ON THE QUALITY OF CHRYSANTHEMUMS CUT FLOWERS IN GABORONE

Tshwenyane, S.O., Legwaila, I.A and Madome, K, T Mathowa

Florist industry is a relatively new industry in Botswana with a shift from using artificial flowers to fresh flowers in arrangements. However, Botswana has a very small production of cut flowers which mainly focuses on summer flowers such as Limonium perezii (Blue sea lavender), Strelitzia reginae (Bird of paradise). This then means that over 90% of the cut flowers used by florists are imported from neighbouring countries such South Africa. The flowers are imported mainly by road due to the expensive air freight costs. Therefore, the type of transportation plays a crucial role in the postharvest quality of the flowers. Flowers that were refrigerated during transportation showed a delay in petal discoloration with an L* value of 76.27 for refrigerated flowers compared to 56.36 of non-refrigerated flowers on day 6. There was a significant increase in fresh weight loss in non-refrigerated flowers than refrigerated flowers. Weight loss after 2 days in retail display was higher in non-refrigerated flowers and continued to decline compared to refrigerated flowers. Transporting chrysanthemums in refrigerated trucks improved vase life up to 14 days compared to 8 days of nonrefrigerated transport. It was concluded that maintaining low temperature during transportation extends the vase life. This study evaluated the effects of refrigerated compared to non-refrigerated transportation on the postharvest quality of cut chrysanthemums flowers (Dendranthema x grandiflorum) during retail display