Flowering stem storage of Heliconia psittacorumL. f. cv. Trópica

•Combinations of temperature, relative humidity and light were tested for storage.•The best storage conditions were 12–16 °C with relative humidity between 60 and 90%.•The longest vase life was using 15 °C and 63% relative humidity (16.6 days).•H. psittacorumL. f. cv. Trópica did not show a significant ethylene release.

Heliconia psittacorum L. f. is a tropical flower species with high economic potential due to its diversity of shapes, colours and its long vase life. However, storage conditions (temperature and relative humidity; RH) for flower stems during transport is a particular issue to each cultivar determining duration of vase life. Flowering stems were obtained from a commercial plantation in Campo Grande, Iztaczoquitlán, Veracruz, Mexico. The variables evaluated over a 10 day storage period were: fresh weight, colour using the CIE model (L*, a*, b*), peroxidase activity (POX), respiratory intensity and ethylene. The temperature was in the range of 12–26 °C, RH between 37 and 90% and light between 0 and 150 μmol m−2 s−1. A repeated measures experimental design for non-destructive variables was used and a completely randomized design for destructive variables. The conditions which best preserved the quality characteristics during the stem storage (α = 0.05) were: 15 °C, 63% RH and 0 μmol m−2 s−1; 16 °C, 60% RH and 150 μmol m−2 s−1 and 12 °C, 90% RH and 26 μmol m−2 s−1. The average vase life (VL) was 6.6 days with 15 °C, 63% RH and 0 μmol m−2 s−1 and total postharvest longevity (TPL) was 16.6 days. In contrast the control treatment had a VL of 2.5 days and a TPL of 12.5 days (24 ± 2 °C, 60 ± 5% RH and 10 μmol m−2 s−1). The presence of leaves increased the respiration, but there was no significant release of ethylene, hence, storage treatments did not affect the ethylene production.