Description

The importance of flowers can be traced back to various religious texts, folk tales and myths apart from their use in weddings. Some of the flowers were used as food and are still eaten by many tribes, while others are used as medicines. Early man also recognized the aesthetic role of flowers; in fact, some ancient cultures believed that they could appease the spirits of their ancestors by decorating their tombs with a particular type of flower. Floriculture is a discipline of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and for floristry, comprising the floral industry. Once flowers are detached from the growing plants they are deprived of their natural source of water and nutrient and consequently wilt rapidly. Thus, for cut flower production, post harvest quality is a limiting factor. Hence, the study of senescence is the underlying theme of present post harvest research.