A Phenological scale of statice

Abstract

Statice is an important cut flower belonging to the Plumbaginaceae family and which has good acceptance among producers and consumers. The construction of a phenological scale for statice that is easy, fast, and non-destructive can contribute to the improvement of management practices, increase flower yield and quality, increase the knowledge on the plant and facilitate the communication between the scientific and technical personnel. Field and greenhouse experiments with seven sowing dates were carried out during 2019 and 2020 at the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, in Santa Maria, RS, Brazil, with Assorted Seeds (mix) and two cultivars (QIS Purple and QIS Yellow) of statice to describe the main stages of plant development. The developmental cycle of statice was divided into three phases: germination, vegetative and reproductive. The germination phase includes the stages S0, S1, S2 and SE, the vegetative phase comprises the stages VC,

Physicochemical attributes and bioactive properties of statice leaves

“…Since it is an annual plant of indeterminate growth, that is, it continues to produce leaves after the appearance of the floral stems and produces a large number of leaves until senescence (50 to 417 according to the cultivar) 6 , there is the possibility of cultivating the species with the purpose of producing leaves for food and floral stems for…”

“…The leaves were harvested manually in the early morning when the plants presented the first inflorescence with visible calyx color (phenological stage R3) 6 , and immediately transported to the Plant Physiology and Postharvest Laboratory. Five fully expanded leaves were harvested from each plant (Figure 1).…”

“…Many of these plants are traditionally used as ornamentals, in food, and in folk medicine 5 . Among them is Limonium sinuatum, which in recent years has been receiving attention in Brazil as a cut flower, especially due to the beauty and durability of the flowers after harvest 6 . Commonly known as statice, evergreen, limonio, and sea lavender, the leaves are part of the Mediterranean diet, for which wild foods are an important element.…”

“…In recent years, studies on the use of statice leaves in human food, their nutritional characteristics and health benefits have been conducted. Some results found in the literature report characteristics in the leaves of different statice species as high contents of flavonoids, vitamin C, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity [6][7] . The plant exhibits antiinflammatory and antitumor action [8][9] , and is employed in the treatment of fever, menstrual disorders and colic 5 .…”