Standarisation of drying techniques for static Cutflowers

Abstract

Limonium (Statice) flowers are gaining popularity for this bright colour inflorescence in fresh attractive and dry form. Dry flower quality is greatly influenced by both pre and postharvest factors. Under the present study, optimum harvest stages for better dry flower quality was determined in three limonium var. Autumn yellow, Autumn blue and Crepe Limonium. Optimum harvest stage for all the three varieties tried was when 90% of the flowers had opened on the inflorescence which gave better quality dry flower. Among 3 varieties used, var. Autumn yellow found superior with respect to colour and texture. Best quality dry flower was obtained by shade drying compared to oven and sun drying. Dry flower texture was improved with 1:3 glycerol: water pretreatment.