Standardization of dehydration technique for greenhouse cut rose var. Shakira

Abstract

An investigation was conducted to evaluate optimum dehydration technique for greenhouse cut rose var. Shakira at different harvest stages, viz., bud stage, 50% open and fully opened flowers. Flowers dried at 50% open stage showed higher retention in dry weight and flower diameter though flowers dried at fully opened stage took minimum time to drying process. Among various drying techniques, microwave oven with silica gel as embedding medium took minimum time in drying and showed higher moisture loss, lower moisture content and higher dry weight, flower diameter and petal pigment retention. Further, among all treatment combinations, flowers dried at 50% open stage in microwave oven embedded with silica gel as embedding media showed best quality in terms of higher retention in dry weight, flower diameter, petal pigments (anthocyanin) along with well-maintained shape, smooth petal texture and maximum dry flower longevity.