Use of methyl jasmonate in bird of paradise

ABSTRACT The MeJA has been shown to be promising in reducing the damages caused by cold and maintaining the quality in several products. Nevertheless, few studies are conducted with flowers and there are no studies of its use in bird of paradise. The objective of this study was to determine whether the pulsing application with MeJA submitted to cold storage promotes physiological changes of the bird of paradise. Flowers were placed in solutions of 200 g L-1 sucrose added with 100, 250 and 400 μmol L-1 MeJA and control without MeJA, for 24 h. The stems were transferred to containers with water at 5 ºC for 28 days. During storage, the water absorption, transpiration and fresh mass were reduced, while the extravasation of electrolytes and phenolic compounds increased. The application of MeJA did not reduce the loss of fresh mass and extravasation of electrolytes. The application of 400 μmol L-1 MeJA has increased peroxidase activity since day 14 of storage. It is concluded that the application of MeJA with pulsing under refrigeration does not promote positive physiological changes for the maintenance of the quality in bird of paradise flowers.