The visual appearance of flowers, fresh fruits and
vegetables is one of the first quality determination made by the consumer.
Often the appearance of the commodity is the most critical factor in the initial
sale. The
flower colour of fresh and dried Dutch rose varieties at Regional Horticultural
Research and Extension Centre, UHS (Campus) GKVK, Bengaluru was documented
using a Minolta CR-10 portable tristimulus colorimeter. With the colorimeter,
flower chromaticity was recorded in Commission Internationale d’ Eclairage L*,
C* and h° colour space coordinates. In this system of colour representation the
values L*, C* and h°, where L value corresponds to the brightness of the
flower, C describes the intensity of the colour and h° represents the hue
angle. The colorimeter, however, allowed the description of colours that fell
between the colour charts and had the ability to compare the specific colour
attributes of different varieties of similar and different colour. The ability
to interpolate colours with the colorimeter allows a greater precision in
documentation and discrimination of flower colour.
Rose as cut flower has great demand in the internal as well
as export markets. The
demand for cut flowers is increasing day by day with the increasing standard of
living, aesthetic sense and awareness in the people. Fresh rose flowers
though exquisite in their beauty are highly perishable and delicate in nature
and cannot retain their beauty and fresh look for a long time in spite of using
best chemicals for enhancing vase life. Moreover, there is a non-availability
of fresh flowers all-round the year in all places. In this context rose flowers
can be dried, preserved and processed to retain its beauty as well as
everlasting value. Dried flowers are long lasting, can be used several times
and also meet the decorative demand throughout the year. With growing
eco-consciousness, the use of more and more nature-friendly things like dry
flowers come as a natural choice for decoration. The
life of dried flowers varies according to the species, texture of their
petals and total consistency of flowers. Dried flowers can be effectively used
for making decorative floral craft items for interior decoration and commercial
exploitation. Considering the potential of Dutch roses in dry flower trade, the
present studies were undertaken to evaluate the colour of dried Dutch rose flowers
of different drying methods using a colorimeter Minolta CR-10. It was selected
as an improved colour measurement to more accurately describing the colour.
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