Standardization of drying techniques of different ornamental plants
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Date
2017
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Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
Abstract
The present investigations “Standardization of drying techniques of different ornamental plants” were conducted at Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, during 2015-17 to workout best drying technique suitable for drying plant parts of different plant species. These plant parts were initially subjected to (i) inverted-, (ii) vertical- and, (iii) water- drying techniques in Experiment 1. Among all the drying techniques in Experiment 1, the maximum dry weight and minimum moisture loss (%) was observed in water dried plant parts, however, the least time for drying was observed in inverted and vertical drying techniques. Among all the plant species only Juniperus chinensis, Bougainvillea var. Torch Glory and Koelreutaria panniculata performed the best in Experiment 1. In Juniperus chinensis, only inverted dried foliage showed very good (4.83) overall acceptability immediately after drying. In Bougainvillea var. Torch Glory, both inverted and vertical dried flower bracts scored excellent (5.00) overall acceptability while in Koelreutaria panniculata, inverted, vertical and water dried pods showed excellent (5.00) overall acceptability. Inverted dried foliage of Juniperus chinensis was acceptable for only 2.5-3 months after drying because of high shattering extent while the dried flower bracts of Bougainvillea var. Torch Glory were acceptable for 5 months after drying. The dried pods of Koelreutaria panniculata showed very good acceptability even after 6 months of drying, however, the shape retention was the best in inverted drying. The plant parts which did not dry well in Experiment 1 were subjected to Experiment 2. It was found that flowers of Jatropha pandurifolia were not suitable for drying with any of the techniques. The foliage of Tabernaemontana divaricata was the best preserved through glycerine, however, the preserved foliage had better quality for only 2-3 months after treatment. In Murraya paniculata, glycerine preservation and press drying technique showed the best results and scored 5.00 (excellent) for overall acceptability immediately after drying. The foliage of Terminallia mentalis dried the best through press drying technique, however, it showed poor acceptability (2.67) after 3 months. Grevillea robusta performed the best in press drying and glycerine preservation technique. The foliage of Nephrolepis exaltata performed the best in glycerine preservation only. In Raphis excelsa, press drying technique showed good results after drying, however, the dried foliage was acceptable for only 2-3 months.
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