~ 1860 ~  International Journal of Chemical Studies 2017; 5(6): 1860-1863                     P-ISSN: 2349–8528  E-ISSN: 2321–4902 IJCS 2017; 5(6): 1860-1863 © 2017 IJCS Received: 04-09-2017 Accepted: 05-10-2017   Neelima Palagani Teaching Associate, College of Horticulture, Dr. YSR Horticultural University, VR Gudem, Andhra Pradesh, India Alka Singh Dept. of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, ACHF, NAU, Navsari, Gujarat, India Dhiraji Patel Dept. of Agril. Chemistry and Soil Science, ACHF, NAU, Navsari, Gujarat, India Correspondence Neelima Palagani Teaching Associate, College of Horticulture, Dr. YSR Horticultural University, VR Gudem, Andhra Pradesh, India Influence of bio fertilizers, pre harvest spray of chemicals and organic liquid fertilizers on postharvest physiology of gerbera Neelima Palagani, Alka Singh and Dhiraji Patel Abstract An experiment was carried out to study the individual and interaction effect of bio fertilizers (Azotobacter and VAM) as soil application and chemicals (spermine and salicylic acid @ 25 and 50 ppm each) and organic liquid fertilizers (banana pseudo stem sap @ 0.5% and 1.0% and vermiwash @ 4%) as foliar spray on gerbera var. Alcatraz. Among the individual effects plants inoculated with bio fertilizers resulted in enhanced postharvest life of gerbera flowers as compared to uninoculated. Further, pre harvest foliar spray with spermine @ 25 ppm improved the postharvest physiology and vase life of gerbera which was followed by vermiwash @ 4%. Further, among the interaction effects, treatment combination of bio fertilisers along pre harvest foliar spray of spermine @ 25 ppm recorded minimum change in fresh weight of the flower (21.02%), higher water uptake by the flower (28.96 ml), total soluble sugar (39.90 mg/g), protein (30.72 mg/g), catalase activity (7.55 mM/min/g protein), peroxidase activity (48.19 mM/min/g protein) in the petal tissue and extended the vase life (9.29 days), which was followed by treatment combination of bio fertilizers along the vermiwash @ 4%. Thus, the treatment combinations of bio fertilizers along the foliar spray of spermine @ 25 ppm and vermiwash @ 4% improved the postharvest physiology and enhanced the vase life of gerbera. Keywords: Spermine, fresh weight, protein, catalase, peroxidase Introduction Gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Bolus ex. Hook) is occupying its place as a popular cut flower in Indian Floriculture and can be commercially grown throughout the world under varied agro climatic conditions (Lhoste, 2002) [11] . According to the global trends in floriculture, Gerbera is one among top five cut flowers in national and international flower markets (Zheng et al., 2016) [26] . Postharvest life of any horticultural produce is majorly influenced by number of preharvest factors. Preharvest factors like nutritional scheduling and use growth regulators can definitely influence the postharvest physiology and vase life of the flower. Bio fertilizers are the cheapest source of fertilizers which are gaining momentum. Azotobacter being a diazotroph, the beneficial response on crops is known due to its atmospheric nitrogen fixing ability (Yoneyama et al., 2009) [24] , as nitrogen is the component of protein, nucleic acids and chlorophyll, increased nitrogen supply to the plant will influence the amount of protein, amino acids, protoplasm and chlorophyll formation in the plant (Jnawali et al., 2015) [8] . Therefore adequate supply of nitrogen is necessary for potential quality of flowers. Further, researchers revealed that bio chemical analysis of Azotobacter inoculated plants showed higher protein and amino acid content than uninoculated (Lopez et al., 2005). Mycorrhizal symbiosis supplies the plants roots with nutrients, secretes organic acids also increase the phytoavailability of micronutrients (Reddy, 2008) [18] . Apart from enhancing the growth, higher foliar concentrations of soluble sugars, proteins and amino acids in plants with VAM symbiosis have been reported (Subramanian and Charest, 1995). Spermine is a new class growth regulator comes under the group of polyamine involved in many physiological activities like association with sugar and carbohydrate synthesis, retained fresh weight of the flowers (Farahi et al., 2012) [5] and contribute in prevention of degradation of macromolecules viz., starch, protein and lipids (Graham et al., 1994) [7] . Further, vermiwash contains soluble nitrogen, phosphorus and potash along some enzyme cocktail (Zambare et al., 2008) [25] . Role of different bio fertilizers, chemicals and natural growth substances as a pre harvest spray in improving the postharvest physiology of gerbera has not been explored so far.