Peggy Pollak wrote:
> I used the question about "feeding" sugar solution or milk to a plant
> to see their effects on growth as a thought question in my freshman
> botany course. During the ensuing discussion someone mentioned that
> aspirin was used to keep cut flowers fresh. I had never heard of this
> but several students confirmed that they had. Has anyone out there
> heard of this use of aspirin? What might be the physiological basis
> for using aspirin? All I could think of was a possible pH effect.
> Thanks. Peggy Pollak
Peggy:
Aspirin is a name for acetylsalicylic acid which, according to Salisbury and
Ross 2nd edition (I'm at home and don't have access to more recent texts) is
found in plants along with salicylic acid. In fact, salicylic acid got its
name from Salix (willow) from which it was isolated. These compounds were once
thought to be involved in flowering (1970s). When applied to duckweed they
could induce flowering. I wonder if the cut flower industry picked up on this?
However, other things also induce duckweed to flower and besides, flower
induction and flower maintenance are two different things. Recently, salicylic
acid was shown to be a mobile signal involved in plant responses to pathogens
and wounding and probably other factors as well. This is a really hot topic in
plant physiology right now and I would bet that salicylic acid reaches plant
hormone status in a few years. Anyway, cut stems are an open avenue for
microbial infestations and this probably limits the lifetime of the flowers.
Putting aspirin in the water may prolong the life of the flowers by hastening
the wound response but I don't know if this has been tested. Could aspirin
also inhibit the growth of the microbes directly? Do I smell an investigative
intro lab brewing?...
Jon
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