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A REVIEW ON DRY FLOWER PRESERVATION

Authors:
Chahat Thakur at Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry
Chahat Thakur
Anil Kumar Verma at Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry
Anil Kumar Verma
Avinash Kumar Bhatia at Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry
Avinash Kumar Bhatia
Mohit Bhardwaj at Niagara College
Mohit Bhardwaj
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Vol.1 Issue-3, November 2020
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Introduction
Flowers are synonyms of delight and blissfulness due to their power to make people
happy and cheerful. Fresh flowers are very attractive, but also expensive and short-lived as
well as available only during a particular season. Dried flower products on the other hand are
long-lasting and retained their aesthetic value irrespective of the season. Preserving plant
materials in a dried form is not a new idea; it has been considered an art for hundreds of
years. Drying of flowers is well known even in the past but for the first time the flowers were
dried commercially in Germany
The dried ornamental products offer a wide range of qualities like novelty, longevity,
aesthetic properties, flexibility, and year-round availability. Dried ornamental plant parts are
generally less expensive and are sought for their everlasting and attractive appearance (Smith,
2000). Dried flowers and other plant parts is a rupees hundred crore industry in India and
such dry decorative materials are globally accepted as naturals, eco-friendly, long-lasting and
inexpensive. The dried plant parts are natural, comparatively inexpensive and have
everlasting value with year-round availability. The dry flower industry in India is more than
40 years old mainly due to its high export value. Dry flowers were introduced initially by the
British in Calcutta due to its nearness to northeast and eastern regions where exotic and
diverse blooms were available in nature.
Indian export of flowers is composed of 71% dry flowers exported mainly to USA,
Japan, Australia, Russia, and Europe. India is one of the major exporters of dry flowers to the
tune of 5 percent world trade in dry flowers. This Industry shows a growth rate of 15 percent
annually. The market for the dry flower has grown exponentially as consumers have become
“eco-conscious” and choose dry flowers as the environment friendly and biodegradable
alternative to fresh flowers. Different decorative floral craft items like cards, floral segments,
A Review On Dry Flower Preservation
Chahat Thakur1, Prakash Singh2, Dr. Anil Kumar Verma3, Mohit Bhardwaj4
1,5 M.Sc Scholar (Food Science and Technology), 2M.Sc Scholar(Agricultural Economics),
3Assistant Professor (College of Horticulture and Forestry Neri, Hamirpur)
Corresponding Author: thakurchahat1997@gmail.com
ARTICLE ID: 024
Vol.1 Issue-3, November 2020
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wall hangings, landscapes, calendars, potpourris etc. could be made by using these dried
flowers or foliage. The range of dried flowers and other attractive plant parts is quite
extensive, namely stems, roots, shoots, buds, flowers, inflorescences, fruits, fruiting shoots,
cones, seeds, foliage, bracts, thorns, barks, lichens, fleshy fungi, mosses, selaginellas, etc.
Techniques in flower drying
The quality and appearance of dried flowers and other ornamental plant parts is greatly
influenced by the method of drying or the drying technique being followed. Various
dehydration techniques have been developed by which flowers, twigs, branches, foliage etc
retain their fresh look for several months or years.
Natural drying
This is the easiest and oldest method of drying used for leaves, flowers, pods etc. In
this method, the flowers or plant parts are allowed to dry on the plant itself and collected
when they are completely dried. Naturally dried plant parts such as beautiful fruiting shoots
of Aegle marmelos, Bambusa spp.,Cassia fistula, Caesapiniasepiaria, Pinus roxburghii,
Sapindusmukrossii etc. and seeds of Abrusprecatorius/Aesculus indica, Sapiumsebiferum, etc.
were identified in the outer Himalayan regions.
Water drying
Water drying is another simple and inexpensive method of flower drying or
dehydration. In this method, the flowers or foliage are initially placed in a few centimetres of
water and then water is allowed to evaporate. The container and flowers should be kept in a
dry, warm, and dark location. This method takes 6-7 days for drying depending upon the
water content in plant material and water taken in containers.
Air drying
The air drying is a very common method of drying where plant materials are attached
to rope/wire and are kept in hanging position either in dark or in the sun for quick drying. Air
drying requires a warm clean dark and well-ventilated area with low humidity. Flowers may
also be spread over blotting sheets/newspapers and kept in dark or in the sun reported air-
drying as the earliest method to dry rose, larkspur, statice and strawflower.
Press drying
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In this method, flowers and foliage are placed between the folds of the newspaper
sheets or blotting papers giving some space among flowers. These sheets are kept one above
the other and corrugated boards of the same size are placed in between the folded sheets so as
to allow the water vapour to escape. Though the flowers and foliage become flat after press
drying, yet this material can be used for composing floral craft items like greeting cards,
floral designs and other art creations which may be framed for wall pin-ups. Lourdusamyet
al., (2001) described press drying as the earliest method of preserving flowers and suggested
that flowers like candytuft, chrysanthemum, lantana, rose, verbena, euphorbia and leaves
like thuja, ferns, silver-oaks, etc are suitable for press drying.
Embedded drying
Embedded drying is one of the methods of flower dehydration useful for delicate
flowers with high moisture content that shatters or misshapen when air-dried. This method of
drying is usually preferred over air or oven drying as it reduces the the problem of petal
shrinkage. In embedded drying, the water content of the flower is completely absorbed by the
surrounding desiccant material during desiccation. The desiccants support the flowers/
foliage from all around and thus, maintains original shape, colour, and size of flowers for a
long time. The commonly used desiccants are silica gel, borax, corn meal, etc., which remove
water from the flowers more rapidly than air-drying besides retaining the flowers in their
natural form.
Oven drying
Nowadays, hot air and microwave ovens are also being used for faster drying and to
improve the quality of dry flowers. Temperature plays an important role in the drying of
flowers and other ornamental plant parts by influencing both qualitative and quantitative
parameters. Dried rosebuds in a microwave oven for 3 minutes, 4 minutes, and 5 minutes,
and found that microwave drying of rosebuds for 4 minutes exhibited good colour and good
shape retention.
Glycerine drying
Glycerine drying has been used by several workers especially to preserve foliage. It
was comparatively less expensive and has a high-water attracting capacity. Preserving foliage
and berries in glycerine and hot water solution brought them into an almost everlasting
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category. Found that glycerinizing replaced the water content of leaves giving them a strong
and pliable nature. This method is found more suitable for eucalyptus, hydrangea, ivy, and
magnolia.
Freeze drying
The most effective method of flower preservation is freeze-drying. Freeze drying
relies on the principle of sublimation, whereby ice held under conditions of partial vacuum
(less than 4.58 torr) and low temperature (less than 0°C) will evaporate on heating without
going through a liquid phase. The flowers dried by freeze-drying and pre-treated with the
tartaric acid solution before microwave drying had good colour and appearance.
Packaging, handling and storage
Packaging for delicate dried plant materials should be done properly and manually
during transportation and distribution by creating awareness of the product characteristics. It
is always advisable to purchase a superior grade or standard cartons or boxes for packaging.
Dried plant material should be protected from moisture throughout the marketing channel by
placing a small quantity of silica gel at the bottom to absorb moisture. Different containers
like glass desiccators, tin boxes, cartons wrapped with plastic sheets or wax paper and
herbarium vasculum fitted with cork sheet is used for storage of dried ornamental plant
material.
Summary
In conclusion, dried flowers, and plant parts are cheaper, eco-friendly, long lasting,
biodegradable, and easily available and, therefore, possess a great potential in the floriculture
industry throughout the world especially in the hilly regions of India. A great variation of
wild plant material available widely also strengthen the establishment of the dry flower
industry. Different techniques have been developed by which dried products retain their fresh
look, appearance and quality. Keeping in view the great scope in the dry flower industry,
there is an immediate need to strengthen its market, financial assistance through government
agencies and training for entrepreneurship development especially for women empowerment
in India and through the export of dry flowers to different countries of the world.
Vol.1 Issue-3, November 2020
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dry flower technology. Floriculture Today 5: 8-13.
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ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
Impact Factor(JCC): 1.8207 - DRYING TECHNOLOGIES OF COMMERCIAL FLOWERS-AN OVERVIEW
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2016
Dry flowers are essential export items both in Indian and International markets and Indian export basket composed of 71% dry flowers which are exported to mainly USA, Japan, Australia, Russia and Europe. The demand for dry flowers is increasing at an impressive rate of 8-10 per cent annually thus offering a lot of opportunities for the Indian entrepreneurs to enter in the global floricultural trade. A number of flowers respond well to drying techniques such as orchids, anemone, zinnia, allium, sweet william, carnation, stock, freesia, narcissus, chrysanthemum, pansy, daffodils, marigold, rose, lilies, foliage like ferns, aspidistra, eucalyptus, ivy, laurel, magnolia and mahonia etc. A number of drying techniques such as air drying, sun drying, press drying, embedded drying, microwave drying, freeze drying, molecular sieve drying and cryo drying, preservation techniques and value addition of dry flowers discussed in details.
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Employment Generation using Dehydration Technology for Drying Flowers and Foliage and Floral Craft
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2011
  • Sci Cult
Wild/unutilized/underutilized plant species and ornamental cut flowers can be converted into value added products using simple dehydration technique. Dehydration techniques have been standardized under room temperature, sun drying, press drying, hot air oven drying, microwave oven and solar cooker. Dried flowers and foliage have multipurpose use. A cottage-scale industry based on floral craft can come up for self-employment of unemployed youths and for earning money to the housewives as well as rural women through this creative occupation. A lmost every country is bestowed with rich wealth of biodiversity of ornamental plants due to diverse agro-climatic and regional topography. Floriculture has become a profitable industry in many parts of the globe. Cut flower is one of the main components of floriculture trade. Shelf-life of cut flower is very limited. In-spite of using best chemicals for improvement of keeping quality and enhancement of vase life, the cut flowers cannot be stored for a long time. Non-availability of flowers at time and places where one wants them very much is an additional problem. Present floriculture market is dominated by standard well utilized ornamental species/varieties. But in industrialized floriculture there is always demand and necessity for new products and flower lovers always seek "something new." There are wide range of wild/unutilized/underutilized plant species which have the potential for commercial exploitation in different forms. We use only small number of crop plants for our basic requirements. Many thousands of wild plants have great economic and cultural importance and tremendous market potential for vast number of people throughout the world. There is an increasing interest throughout the world, in "neglected and underutilized crop species" (NUS). Neglected and underutilized crop species should be identified for new uses. But the majority are still unknown to science. Rural and hilly areas are covered with different types of colourful flowers and foliage at different seasons round the year and all these are wasted under natural process. The entire seasonal colourful vegetations can be converted into value added products by using dehydration technique. Dehydration technology can also be exploited for dehydration of promising colourful cut flowers in its original colour and shape for long term enjoyment and for commercial utilization of unutilized/underutilized plant species. Dry flowers that are near natural, dried and preserved, have an ever lasting value that can be cherished for longer periods and require little care. Dry flower market has grown exponentially as consumers become "eco-conscious" and choose dried flowers as the environmentally friendly and biodegradable alternative to fresh flowers. There is large potential to develop the dry flower industry in every country and to provide employment to house wives and rural women. Simplified indigenous techniques have been developed by which flowers, branches, twigs, foliage etc. retain their fresh look for several months or even years. The original shapes, colours and size remain as they were before dehydration and, thus , making them highly suitable raw materials for interior decoration and may be enjoyed for a long time and can be used for any occasion. The technique has been simplified in such a way that any group of people including uneducated rural men/women can learn it within two to three days 1-3. Non-availability of information has been a major constraint in the promotion of dry flower industry in our country. The main aim of the present article is to popularize a simplified technique which can be profitably utilized by all class of people. This will provide guidelines to researchers, growers, florists and industry members for quick commercial utilization of dehydration technique and floral craft. Materials and Methods : Technology Package : A full package of technology protocol is available for dehydration of flowers and foliage and floral craft. Information on selection and collection of plant materials, their processing before dehydration, different methods of dehydration, utilization of dehydrated materials for preparation of interior decorative items etc. are available. No sophisticated infrastructure is required for dehydration. Different methods have been standardized but two methods are commercially viable i.e. Press Drying and Embedding and Drying. Naturally available unutilized flora and cultivated colourful annuals can be dehydrated through press drying.
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Dried and preserved ornamental plant material: Not new, but often overlooked and underrated
Article
  • Feb 1998
In the context of a new floricultural crops symposium such as this, dried and preserved (D&P) ornamental plant materials cannot strictly be considered "new'. Nevertheless, they surely deserve attention. Being largely focused on the qualities of attractive living plants and plant parts, floriculturalists generally pay scant attention to D&P products. Accordingly, these products are often "overlooked and underrated'. They are overlooked in that their considerable economic importance is generally unrecognized, and they are underrated in that their aesthetic contribution is largely discounted. In contrast to other areas of postharvest floriculture, relatively little publicly funded research and development (R&D) has been undertaken on drying and preserving of ornamental materials with a view to optimizing treatments and product quality. Privately funded R&D work has been sustained, but findings are usually kept as closely guarded secrets in order to protect investments. It is possibly a consequence, at least in part, of the limited amount of public information on drying and preserving of ornamentals that the D&P industry is ill-defined in terms of products, processes and organization. For example, product descriptions and uniformity and quality standards, which underpin trade in most horticultural commodities, have not been generally established for D&P products. This paper presents an overview of the D&P ornamentals industry, including the common methods used in drying and preserving. In keeping with the location of this symposium, novel Australian plant products and the Australian industry are considered. The overall objective of the presentation is to increase awareness of the D&P ornamentals industry, with a view to stimulating greater public R&D support and enhanced industry professionalism in the trade of D&P products.
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Dried flowers and plant parts
  • Jan 2003
  • 162-273
  • S K Bhattacharjee
  • L C De
Bhattacharjee, S.K., and De, L.C. 2003. Dried flowers and plant parts, In: Advanced commercial floriculture. Avishkar Publishers, Jaipur, pp. 162-273.
Dehydrated flowers and foliage and floral crafts
  • Jan 1999
  • 696-703
  • S K Datta
  • T K Bose
  • R G Maitti
  • R S Dua
Datta, S.K. 1999. Dehydrated flowers and foliage and floral crafts, in: Bose, T.K., Maitti, R.G., Dua, R.S., Das, P. (Eds), Floriculture and landscaping. Naya Prokash, Kolkata, India. Pp. 696-703.
Studies on methods of dehydration of rose buds
  • Jan 2007
  • 264267
  • K K Dhatt
  • Singh Kushal
  • Ramesh Kumar
Dhatt KK, Singh Kushal and Ramesh Kumar 2007. Studies on methods of dehydration of rose buds. Journal of Ornamental Horticulture 10(4): 264267.
Guide to Arranging Dried Flowers. Step by Step Handbook of Growing, Drying and Displaying
  • Jan 1994
  • 230
  • M Hiller
Hiller M (1994) Guide to Arranging Dried Flowers. Step by Step Handbook of Growing, Drying and Displaying, Dorling Kindersley Ltd., London, 230 pp.
Study on the application of freeze drying and microwave drying to cut flowers
  • Jan 2005
  • 71-74
  • Cheng Liang Ling Yun
  • Zhang Yulai
  • Baiqing
Liang Ling Yun, Cheng YuLai and Zhang BaiQing 2005. Study on the application of freeze drying and microwave drying to cut flowers. Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Machinery 36(1): 71-74.
Research and development in dry flower technology
  • Jan 2001
  • 8-13
  • D K Lourdusamy
  • E Vadivel
  • R S Azhakiamanavalan
Lourdusamy DK, Vadivel E and Azhakiamanavalan RS 2001. Research and development in dry flower technology. Floriculture Today 5: 8-13.
Exploring export potential of dried flowers, floral crafts and value added products
  • Apr 2003
  • R L Mishra
  • N Kumar
  • J K Ranjan
Mishra RL, Kumar N and Ranjan JK 2003. Exploring export potential of dried flowers, floral crafts and value added products. Indian Horticulture, 47, April-June, 47-48.