Studies on methods of dehydration of rose buds Gold Medal and Minu Parle
P. Acharyya, S. Biswas and S. Saha
Book of Abstracts.International Conference on Quality Management in Supply Chains of Ornamentals. 21-24 February, 2012. Golden Tulip Sovereign Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.
2012
บทคัดย่อ
Dried rose buds are in considerable demand in the domestic market as well as in the global market. In the eastern parts of India flowers are available in abundance with good form during the winter months. During summer months, flowers are available but not with standard form and the fresh cut flowers also do not stay for long if not sufficient care is provided. Different methods of dehydration were used for production of dried rose buds cv. Gold Medal (Golden yellow) and Minu Parle ( Maroon red). Flowers having stalk length of 5 cm were embedded in different media viz. silica gel, white sand, sawdust and combination of sand:boric acid (1:1,v/v), sawdust-boric acid(1:1,v/v) and were dried in open air room condition, hot air oven and microwave oven for different durations. Optimum duration of drying was considered on the basis of colour retention and post drying shape, form and texture which varied greatly due to condition and media. Irrespective of cultivars, moisture loss was recorded 65-66 percent. In both the cultivars, silica gel embedded buds exhibited best performance in respect of early drying, retention of colour, shape and texture of flowers in microwave oven followed by hot air oven. Drying duration did not vary in between the varieties, however, colour retention and overall acceptability was better with cv. Gold Medal. Maximum size reduction was noted with sawdust alone. Post drying longevity studies revealed microwave treated buds embedded in silica gel exhibited longer shelf life than others.