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Postharvest senescence is a critical problem of carnation cut flowers, limiting their transportation and subsequent marketing chain. This study was designed to assess whether the application of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), and nitric oxide (NO) released from donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP) could prolong the vase life of cut carnations through an influence on the physiological and biochemical mechanisms involved in aging process. 1-MCP was used in the concentrations of 0, 100, 200, and 300 mg·m−3; AgNPs in the concentrations of 0, 50, 100, and 150 mg·dm−3; and SNP in the concentrations of 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 mM. All treatments significantly extended the cut flower life compared with untreated flowers, more so with 300 mg·m−3 of 1-MCP, 100 mg·dm−3 of AgNPs, or 0.3 mM of SNP. All these chemical compounds were able to considerably improve the relative water content (RWC), reduce the malondialdehyde (MDA) content and increase the membrane stability index (MSI) in petals and, therefore, maintain the membrane integrity. In addition, they decreased the activities of acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and, hence, depressed the production of ethylene in carnation cut flowers through downregulating the ethylene production, what prolonged the vase life. Altogether, the application of exogenous 1-MCP, AgNPs, or SNP may provide a promising avenue to improve the postharvest performance of carnation cut flowers.

The vase life of cut rose is relatively short, therefore; preserving its postharvest quality via eco-friendly approaches is of particular economic importance. From the previous literature, despite melatonin (MT) plays diverse important roles in the postharvest quality maintenance, its impact on preserving the postharvest quality of cut flowers is really scarce. This research therefore was undertaken to find out the possibility of exogenous MT as an eco-friendly preservative to extend the vase life of cut roses. The flowering stems of Rosa hybrida cv. ‘First Red’ were pulsed in MT solutions at 0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 mM for 30 min and then transferred to distilled water for evaluation. The vase life was significantly prolonged and relative water content was considerably maintained due to MT application compared to the control, more so with 0.2 mM concentration which nearly doubled the vase life (1.9-fold) higher than the control. SEM investigation showed that MT treatment reduced the stomatal aperture in lower epidermis which was widely opened in control flowers. MT treatment significantly increased the phenol content, glutathione (GSH) content and CAT, APX and GR enzyme activities compared to untreated flowers. Additionally, the radical scavenging capacity in MT-treated flowers was considerably higher than that of control and therefore MT treatment reduced H2O2 production and lipid peroxidation, which altogether reflected in membrane stability maintenance.