International Journal of Plant & Soil Science

Aims: To optimize drying technique for the popular Dutch rose cultivar, Taj Mahal, by evaluating different drying methods and appraising the physical, biochemical and sensory quality of the product.

Study Design: Completely Randomized Design.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Floriculture, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Faculty of Horticulture, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, during 2019-2020

Methodology: Flowers of rose cultivar ‘Taj Mahal’, at their prime beauty i.e., half-opened bud stage, were subjected to embedded drying in silica gel at six different conditions viz. at room temperature (T₁), in hot air oven at 45^°C, (T₂) and at 60^°C, (T₃) in micro-wave oven at 100% power level (T₄), 80% power level (T₅) and at 60% power level (T₆). The quality of the ensuing dehydrated flowers was judged with respect to colour, weight, volume shrinkage and anthocyanin and carotenoid contents. Temperature during drying and time to reach optimum dehydrated condition under different drying techniques were recorded. Sensory evaluation for the quality of the products was done after six months of storage.

Results: The time taken for optimum drying ranged from 120 hours in case of room temperature drying (25.1°C) to 3 minutes in microwave oven on high power i.e., 100% (130.4°C). Significant variation in final weight of the product was recorded between 18.34% to 28% of the fresh weight. Minimum shrinkage (42.85%) was noted in room drying (T₁) and hot air oven drying at 60°C (43.53%). Maximum anthocyanin concentration (3.528 mg/g) was recorded in flowers dried at room temperature, whereas, minimum among the dried flowers, was recorded in microwave oven drying at 100% power level (1.439 mg/g). Maximum Carotenoid content (16.780 µg/g) was recorded in flowers dried in hot air oven at 45°C. Out of six treatments in the present study, maximum sensory score (30.38 out of 36) was gathered by T₂, which was at par with T₁ and T₅.

Conclusion: Dehydrating ‘Taj Mahal’ rose flowers by embedding in silica gel and drying under room temperature (25°C) for 120 hours or hot air oven at 45°C for 27.5 hours or microwave oven at 80% power level for 3.5 minutes can be recommended for commercial dry flower production.