Abstract
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) plants acclimated to photoperiods of 18 hours light, 6 hour dark in plant growth chambers exhibited a daily cyclic pattern of floret volatile emanation with a maximum emanation of about 6.5 nanograms of hydrocarbons/floret·30 minutes. This maximum was reached about 6 to 8 hours into the light period. After 8 hours of light, emanation of volatiles decreased rapidly to less than 0.1 ng/floret·30 min even though light and temperature remained constant. Under continuous illumination, only a small increase of volatile emanation occurred during the following 24 hours. It appeared that a dark period was necessary to promote floret volatile emanation. Floret volatile emanation was drastically affected for at least 7 days following a photoperiod change. A photoperiod change caused 6-fold concentration oscillations every 2 hours. The results are interpreted on the basis of a very active floral metabolism controlled by photoperiodically induced rhythms.
Full text
PDF



Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Dodson C. H., Dressler R. L., Hills H. G., Adams R. M., Williams N. H. Biologically active compounds in orchid fragrances. Science. 1969 Jun 13;164(3885):1243–1249. doi: 10.1126/science.164.3885.1243. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]