ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, CULTIVAR, AND PROPAGATION MATERIAL AFFECT RHIZOME YIELD AND POSTHARVEST QUALITY OF GINGER (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE ROSC.), GALANGAL (ALPINIA GALANGA LINN.), AND TURMERIC (CURCUMA SPP.) By SOFIA JESUS FLORES VIVAR A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2019 © 2019 Sofia J. Flores Vivar To my parents, siblings, and plant friends ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Rosanna Freyre and Dr. Paul Fisher for giving me the opportunity to work for their program initially as a Research Visiting Scholar. After that first experience, they let me continue working and guided me through my masters’ studies. I thank Dr. Sargent for his advice and help during my postharvest evaluations. Special thanks to present and past students from Dr. Fisher and Dr. Freyre’s labs for their help and support. Thanks to Victor Zayas, Erin Yafuso, Ulrich Adegbola, George Grant, Jonathan Clavijo, Henry Kironde, and Nicholas Genna for being amazing friends. I thank Brian Owens, Mark Kann and their teams for always being there to help me in the greenhouse and field. I would like to thank Dr. Pearson and his team from Mid-Florida Research and Education Center in Apopka for letting me work in their lab and providing instruction to perform the chemical analyses of my plants. I thank Dr. Rathinasabapathi for his advice and willingness to help me with the analysis of my rhizomes. I would like to thank Dr. Gomez for her friendship and unwavering support. Thanks to James Colee from UF Agriculture Statistics for support with statistical analysis. This research project was supported by the Floriculture Research Alliance (FloricultureAlliance.org). I thank Hawaii Clean Seed, LLC. for supplying rhizomes in 2017, Just Ginger growers for their donation of rhizomes in 2018, and AgriStarts for donating the micropropagated planting material. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................9 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................................11 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................14 2 ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AFFECTING SPROUTING OF GINGER (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE) AND TURMERIC (CURCUMA SPP.) RHIZOMES ....................................17 Background .............................................................................................................................17 Material and Methods .............................................................................................................20 Results and Discussion ...........................................................................................................23 Summary .................................................................................................................................26 3 RHIZOME YIELD AND POSTHARVEST QUALITY OF GINGER (ZINGIBER OFFICINALE) AND GALANGAL (ALPINIA GALANGA) AS AFFECTED BY PROPAGATION MATERIAL, CULTIVAR, AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS DURING PRODUCTION.............................................................................30 Background .............................................................................................................................30 Materials and Methods ...........................................................................................................36 Experiment 1. Greenhouse Experiments .........................................................................36 Year 1 (2017-2018) ..................................................................................................36 Year 2 (2018-2019) ..................................................................................................38 Experiment 2. Field Experiment ......................................................................................41 Results and Discussion ...........................................................................................................43 Experiment 1. Greenhouse Experiments .........................................................................43 Year 1 (2017-2018) ..................................................................................................43 Year 2 (2018-2019) ..................................................................................................46 Postharvest Evaluations – Greenhouse Trial – Year 2 .............................................52 Experiment 2 – Field Experiment ....................................................................................54 Postharvest Evaluations – Field Experiment ............................................................59 Summary .................................................................................................................................60 5 4 INTERACTION OF PROPAGATION MATERIAL, CULTIVAR, AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON ORNAMENTAL PLANT PERFORMANCE, RHIZOME YIELD, AND RHIZOME QUALITY OF TURMERIC (CURCUMA SPP.). ....79 Background .............................................................................................................................79 Materials and Methods ...........................................................................................................83 Experiment 1. Greenhouse Experiments .........................................................................83 Year 1 (2017-2018) ..................................................................................................84 Year 2 (2018-2019) ..................................................................................................85 Experiment 2. Field Experiment ......................................................................................88 Results and Discussion ...........................................................................................................90 Experiment 1. Greenhouse Experiments .........................................................................90 Year 1 (2017-2018) ..................................................................................................90 Year 2 (2018-2019) ..................................................................................................92 Postharvest Evaluations – Greenhouse Trial – Year 1 .............................................99 Experiment 2 – Field Experiment ..................................................................................101 Postharvest Evaluations – Field Experiment ..........................................................107 Summary ...............................................................................................................................109 5 CONCLUSIONS ..................................................................................................................128 LIST OF REFERENCES .............................................................................................................132 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................145 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 2-1 Mean values and Tukey grouping comparison for days to sprout, number of sprouted buds after 4 and 8 weeks, shoot and root length and final weight of ginger and turmeric rhizomes from different sources in Experiment 1. ..............................................27 2-2 Mean values and Tukey grouping comparison for days to sprout, number of sprouted buds after 4 and 8 weeks, shoot and root length and final weight of ginger and turmeric rhizomes from different sources in Experiment 2. ..............................................28 2-3 Mean values and Tukey grouping comparison for initial weight, initial number of visible buds, initial length and diameter of rhizomes of ginger and turmeric cultivars from different sources in Experiment 1 and 2. ..................................................................29 3-1 Mean values and Tukey grouping comparison for plant type, average new shoot number, height increase, number of flowers, overall rating, and SPAD with varying photoperiods in the greenhouse in year 2 (2018-2019). ....................................................62 3-2 Mean values and Tukey grouping comparison for plant type, storage period, and color parameters of rhizomes grown under natural days in year 2, harvested and stored for 2 weeks. .............................................................................................................63 3-3 Mean values and Tukey grouping comparison for plant type, storage period, and color parameters of rhizomes grown under long days in year 2, harvested and stored for 2 weeks. ........................................................................................................................64 3-4 Mean values and Tukey grouping comparison for plant type, average new shoot number, height increase, SPAD, overall rating,