Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13(4), 4704-4713; doi:10.3390/ijms13044704
Article

Effect of Calcium Sprays on Mechanical Strength and Cell Wall Fractions of Herbaceous Peony (Paeonia Lactiflora Pall.) Inflorescence Stems

Chengzhong Li 1,2 email, Jun Tao 1,* email, Daqiu Zhao 1 email, Chao You 1 email and Jintao Ge 1 email
1 College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China 2 Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture Yangzhou Vocational College of Environment and Resources, Yangzhou 225127, China
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 2 March 2012; in revised form: 15 March 2012 / Accepted: 19 March 2012 / Published: 13 April 2012
PDF Full-text Download PDF Full-Text [171 KB, uploaded 13 April 2012 10:24 CEST]
Abstract: Calcium is an essential element and imparts significant structural rigidity to the plant cell walls, which provide the main mechanical support to the entire plant. In order to increase the mechanical strength of the inflorescence stems of herbaceous peony, the stems are treated with calcium chloride. The results shows that preharvest sprays with 4% (w/v) calcium chloride three times after bud emergence are the best at strengthening “Da Fugui” peonies’ stems. Calcium sprays increased the concentrations of endogenous calcium, total pectin content as well as cell wall fractions in herbaceous peonies stems, and significantly increased the contents of them in the top segment. Correlation analysis showed that the breaking force of the top segment of peonies’ stems was positively correlated with the ratio of water insoluble pectin to water soluble pectin (R = 0.673) as well as lignin contents (R = 0.926) after calcium applications.
Keywords: calcium; breaking force; cell wall fractions; herbaceous peony; inflorescence stem

Article Statistics

Click here to load and display the download statistics.

Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Li, C.; Tao, J.; Zhao, D.; You, C.; Ge, J. Effect of Calcium Sprays on Mechanical Strength and Cell Wall Fractions of Herbaceous Peony (Paeonia Lactiflora Pall.) Inflorescence Stems. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13, 4704-4713.

AMA Style

Li C, Tao J, Zhao D, You C, Ge J. Effect of Calcium Sprays on Mechanical Strength and Cell Wall Fractions of Herbaceous Peony (Paeonia Lactiflora Pall.) Inflorescence Stems. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2012; 13(4):4704-4713.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Li, Chengzhong; Tao, Jun; Zhao, Daqiu; You, Chao; Ge, Jintao. 2012. "Effect of Calcium Sprays on Mechanical Strength and Cell Wall Fractions of Herbaceous Peony (Paeonia Lactiflora Pall.) Inflorescence Stems." Int. J. Mol. Sci. 13, no. 4: 4704-4713.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. EISSN 1422-0067 Published by MDPI AG, Basel, Switzerland RSS E-Mail Table of Contents Alert