Americans spent over $1.7 billion for flowers on Valentine’s Day this year according to market research conducted by BIGresearch. If you’re one if the millions of people who received a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers, you’re probably wondering what’s the best way to make them last the longest.
If you’re thinking just water or plant food will do the trick, think again. To make them last the longest, you might want to try Viagra.
According to the British Medical Journal, researchers in Israel and Australia have found that the potent little pill can be used to double the shelf life of cut flowers.
A group led by Professor Yaacov Leshem, a plant researcher in Israel, found that as little as one milligram of Viagra dissolved in a solution was enough to make two vases of cut flowers stay fresh almost a week longer than normal.
According to Men’s Health, each Viagra pill costs roughly $5; however, nitric oxide, which is very inexpensive and easy to obtain, is an alternative to the little blue pill in treating cut flowers.
The main ingredient in Viagra, manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, is sildenafil citrate. Sildenafil citrate works by enhancing signaling through the nitric oxide pathway in the male genitalia. The researchers discovered that Viagra has almost the same effect on plant ripening as it does on a man's sexual organ.
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