Gladiolus is very important cut flower crop in floriculture industry and maintaining the quality of cut spikes is very imperative topic. Therefore, the current study was conducted to investigate the effects of salicylic acid (SA) on keeping the quality and extending the vase life of gladiolus cut spikes. Gladiolus spikes were put in holding solutions of SA at 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 mM while control spikes were placed in distilled water. The vase life of gladiolus spikes was considerably extended due to SA application relative to untreated spikes. Treating gladiolus spikes with SA at 0.6 mM resulted in 9 days longer than the untreated spikes. The number of opened florets, relative water content (RWC) and chlorophyll content were significantly enhanced in treated spikes compared to the control. The proline content was increased unlike the malondialdehyde (MDA) content that decreased in SA treated spikes and hence resulted in maintaining the membrane integrity compared with the control. The total phenolics in florets were increase as a result of SA treatment compared to untreated spikes. The positive effects of SA treatment in maintaining the quality of gladiolus cut spikes were more observed when 0.6 mM concentration was used while further higher level (0.8 mM) causes no improvement in spike longevity. Conclusively, SA had a sustainable effect on the physiological and biochemical investigated parameters that mitigated the oxidative stress in gladiolus cut spikes. Application of SA in floral preservative industry of cut flowers is recommended.

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