The Effect of Dill and Cumin Essential Oils on Physiological and Microbiological Traits of Cut Alstroemeria ( Alstroemeria hybrida)

Alstroemeria (Alstroemeria hybrida) is one of the most important cut flowers in the world. The aim of this study is investigating on the effect of dill and cumin essential oils on physiological and microbiological traits of alstroemeria cut flowers. Hydro-distillation method and GC isolated the essential oils of seed and GC/MS examined the chemical compositions of the samples. This experiment carried out as factorial based on completely randomized design with two factors of essential oils of dill and cumin (50 and 100 ppm). The second factor was used of methods (pre-harvest, post-harvest). The results showed that the dill essential oil treatment (100 ppm) in pre-harvest was the best treatment for all known traits. 11 colonies of bacteria were identified in stem end of cut alstroemeria flowers; which are E-coli, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Proteus, Serratia, Citrobacter, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus, Bacillus cereus and Actinomycetes. Due to the positive impact of dill essential oil (100 ppm) in the pre-harvest method in improving traits associated with vase life of cut alstroemeria flowers, these treatments are recommended.