435 Shelf-Life of Anthurium Cut Flowers: Evaluation Criteria F.L. Cuquel S.W. Polack Universidade Federal do Paraná Departamento de Fitotecnia e Fitossanitarismo Curitiba, Paraná Brazil Secretaria de Estado de Agricultura e Abastecimento Curitiba, PR Brazil Keywords: Anthurium andraeanum, postharvest, vase-life, senescence, longevity Abstract During shelf-life of the anthurium (Anthurium andraeanum) several degradation processes occur, which lead, slowly or rapidly, to final senescence. The intensity and speed of these processes directly depend on the cultural practices applied before and during the postharvest management. The efficiency of the technology applied for decreasing the senescence process is frequently evaluated by subjective methods, and based on few observations. The goal of this research was to develop qualitative and quantitative senescence criteria to evaluate the anthurium cut flowers shelf-life that might be applied as a common language among the researchers in the scientific publications to judge this product. With this objective 120 anthurium cut flowers ‘IAC Eidibel’ were kept in a room at 25±1°C and 65-75% relative humidity for 23 days and were analyzed daily. The scale developed for the evaluation of senescence includes grades from ten (excellent) to one (bad). Grading was related to descriptive and visual aspects of the spathe and of the spadix with regards to color, shine, turgidity, and the occurrence of spots and necrosis. INTRODUCTION Anthurium (Anthurium andraeanum) is an ornamental tropical aroid sold throughout the world as cut flower and as potted plant. The tiny true flowers are found on the spadix, the upright organ in the center of the spathe, which is the decorative petal-like organ surrounding the spadix. Although anthuriums are sensitive to low temperatures, they have a long vase-life when properly handled (Gross et al., 2004). Although there are no formal grade standards for anthuriums, top quality implies long stems, uniformity of color and size, proper maturity, glossiness of the spathe, and freedom from any damage or disease (Gross et al., 2004). Several researches have been developed to delay the senescence process and to increase anthurium shelf-life (Paull and Goo, 1985; Paull et al., 1985; Criley and Paull, 1993; Druege, 2002; Mujaffar and Sankat, 2003; Elibox and Umaharan, 2008, 2010). To evaluate the efficiency of these researches it is necessary to adopt objective criteria. The goal of this research was to select qualitative and quantitative senescence criteria to evaluate the anthurium cut flowers shelf-life that might be applied as a common language among the researchers in scientific publications to judge this product. MATERIALS AND METHODS Anthurium cut flowers ‘IAC Eidibel’ evaluated in this study were produced in a commercial area receiving all cultural practices applied in the field. Flowers were harvested when three quarters of the spadix were mature, with yellow color. They were immediately sent to the laboratory, where 1/2 inch of the stem basis was cut off. They were maintained under room temperature (25±1°C and relative humidity of 65-75%), with the stem basis inside tap water, which was daily changed. 120 flowers without any visual damage were selected to be evaluated. They were daily analyzed during 23 days concerning qualitative and quantitative senescence criteria. Proc. XXVIII th IHC – IS on Postharvest Technology in the Global Market Eds.: M.I. Cantwell and D.P.F. Almeida Acta Hort. 934, ISHS 2012