Zingiber zerumbet flower stem postharvest characterization

About the Zingiber zerumbet little is known about its cut flower postharvest and market, despite its high ornamental potential. The inflorescences, which resemble a compact cone, emerge from the base of the plants and start with green color changing to red with the age. This study objective was to characterize floral stem of ornamental ginger in two cultivate conditions and to evaluate the longevity of those submitted to post-harvest treatments. Flower stems were harvest from clumps cultivated under full sun and partial shade area, and were submitted to the postharvest treatments: complete flower immersion in tap water (CFI) or only the base stem immersion (BSI). The flower stems harvested from clumps at partial shade presented higher fresh weight, length and diameter of the inflorescences compared to flower stems harvested from clumps at full sun area. The flower stem bracts cultivated in full sun area changed the color from green to red 10.69 and 11.94 days after BSI and CFI postharvest treatments, and the vase life were 22.94 and 28.19 days, respectively. Flower stem harvest in partial shade area change the color only after 18.94 and 18.43 days and the vase life durability was 27.56 and 31.81, respectively. The complete immersion of the flower stem increase the vase life durability in 5.25 and 4.25 days compared to flowers kept with the stem base immersed only, in flower stems harvested from clumps cultivated in full sun area and partial shade area, respectively. Flower stems harvested from clumps cultivated in partial shade area and completely immerse in tap water during 3 hours increase the vase life durability in 8.87 days compared to flowers harvested from clumps cultivated in full sun area and base immersed only.

BCR Speciation Analysis of Mercury in Smelting Slag at Yunnan Arsenic Mining Area

BCR three-step extraction method was used to evaluate the speciation of mercury in mining area soil. The results showed that the major existent form of mercury in NO.1 and NO.3 area were acid-soluble speciation, the major existent form of mercury in NO.2 and NO.4 area were nitric acid-soluble speciation, and the total content of mercury in entrance area, shade area, sunny area and low-lying area were 419.977 mg/kg, 182.945 mg/kg, 290.313 mg/kg and 798.718 mg/kg, respectively. The bioavailability of mercury in mining area soil was evaluated based on BCR speciation. Acid-soluble speciation, nitric acid-soluble speciation and oxidation speciation were considered to be potential bioavailability.