Short Communication

Evaluation of ornamental sunflower for value addition

Kirtimala B. Naik*, S.K. Nataraj, D. P. Kumar, Y. G. Shadakshari,
G.K. Seetharamu, R. Veugopalan and K.V. Jayaprasad

College of Horticulture, GKVK Campus, Bengaluru - 560 065
*E-mail: kirtiflori@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
An experiment was conducted at College of Horticulture, GKVK, campus, Bengaluru, UHS,
Bagalkot during 2012-13 to study the suitability of ornamental sunflower for dry flower
production. Highest flower weight loss was with corn meal and silica gel (90.75 and 88.45 per
cent). Silica gel followed by borax powder took least number of days for drying of flower heads
(9.40 and 12.60 days respectively). Colour retention in dried ornamental sunflower was highest
with control treatment and silica gel with a score of 4.63 and 4.44. Flower appearance was best
with silica gel (4.44) which was at par with control with a score of 3.81. Best texture score of
(4.31) was highest with silica gel followed by control (shade), corn meal and alum powder
which recorded 3.63, 3.31 and 3.25 respectively. Best flower shape after drying period as with
silica gel (4.38).The results reveal silica gel and corn meal as best drying agents in ornamental
sunflower.

Key words: Drying, dessicants, embedding, sensory, appearance

INTRODUCTION

Floriculture is fast emerging industry in the
world. In recent years, there has been a revival of
interest in producing field-grown cut flowers. As fresh
flowers are short-lived and are available only during
a particular season and wastage of huge number of
fresh flowers due to lack of proper marketing channel
and some unavoidable circumstances during blooming
season, some flowers were identified which could be
easily dried, preserved and processed in nature.
Standardisation of drying techniques is important to
determine the exact method of drying for extending
the post harvest dry flower quality in sunflower.
Therefore research on different dessicants of drying
to retain the flowers original colour and form for a
longer period is important. Flower drying is one of
the alternative techniques that could be used to
preserve flowers for a longer period. There are several
methods of preservation available and in many cases
their results last for years and may be used for many
occasions. It can be made into permanent or semi-
permanent decorations. Dried flowers do not have to
be used in arrangements immediately. They can be
stored for several months without deteriorating. By
investing in this industry the country is still able to

increase its export earnings. Information on preserving
flowers to retain quality standards such as colour, lack
of shrivelling are limited. As very meagre work has
been done in this regard that too in a flower like
ornamental sunflower, an attempt was made to know
the exact method of drying ornamental sunflower.
Dana and Lerner (2002) reported that the most
satisfactory desiccants used are sand, borax and silica
gel.

An experiment was conducted at College of
Horticulture, GKVK, campus, Bengaluru, UHS,
Bagalkot during 2012-13 to study the suitability of
ornamental sunflower for dry flower production. The
flowers were harvested at fully opened stage with
bursting of not more than 50% pollen and dried
separately in sun and shade for a period of 7 days. On
the basis of visual appearance of colour, shape of petals
and texture shade drying was considered a suitable
method to dry sunflower flowers. This was followed
by drying the flowers in different embedding materials.
Observations viz. visual colour, shape of petals, texture
and overall appearance were recorded and finally the
sensory evalua tion of these dr ied flower s wa s
conducted by a panel of judges. The design followed
in this experiment was simple CRD adopting Fisher’s

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 13(1) : 116-118, 2018

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Naik et al

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 13(1) : 116-118, 2018

method of analysis of variance technique as given by
Panse and Sukhatamane (2002) by using SAS package
V9-3 available at statistical cell, IIHR with six
treatments and four replications. The drying treatments
followed were as follows 1) Silica gel, 2) Sand, 3) Borax,
4) Corn meal, 5) Alum, 6) Control (without embedding).

Flower weight after drying duration decreased
significantly with Corn meal and silica gel (1.75 and
2.16 g respectively) followed by alum powder (2.43
g). Weight loss was significantly more with corn meal
and silica gel (90.75 and 88.45 per cent) followed by
alum powder (87 per cent). Silica gel, a drying agent
has the capacity to absorb large quantities of moisture
(upto 40 per cent) and could quickly dehydrate cut
flowers Robberts (1997). Major drawback of air drying
method is that it is weather dependant and the quality
of the product is not good (Datta, 2004). Silica gel
followed by borax powder took least number of days
for drying of flower heads (9.40 and 12.60 days
respectively (Table 1). Drying time varies depending
on the flower thickness and the drying agent used

Musgrove (1998). Similar results were recorded by
Rengaswamy et al. (1999); Dahiya et al. (2004);
Sangama (2004); Safeena et al. (2006) and Salma
(2010).

Sensory evaluation by a panel of judges mean
highest score for colour retention in dried ornamental
sunflower was scored by flowers dried in control
treatment and silica gel with a score of 4.63 and 4.44
(Table 2). Shade drying since olden times is known to
retain colour. The flowers embedded in silica gel were
found to produce good quality dry flowers as this
desiccant prevents the direct removal of moisture from
flowers by acting as an intermediate. This prevents
shrinkage of the flower and degradation of colouring
pigments Safeena et al. (2006).

Mean highest score for appealing appearance
was registered by flowers dried in silica gel (4.44)
which was at par with control with a score of 3.81.
Similar results were reported by Barnett (1996) and
Datta (2004) in drying experiment in differ ent
flowers.

Table 1. Dry flower attributes of ornamental sunflower genotype M-17R dried in
various embedding material

Embedding treatment Fresh weight of Dry weight of Weight loss Days taken for
flower head (g) flower head (g) (%) drying

Borax powder (T1) 18.05 3.34 81.48 12.60

Sand (T2) 18.46 3.10 83.21 14.87

Silica gel (T3) 18.69 2.16 88.45 9.40
Alum powder (T4) 18.73 2.43 87.00 17.40

Corn meal (T5) 18.94 1.75 90.75 19.20

Control (Shade) (T6) 17.94 3.20 82.10 14.73

SEm 0.34 0.19 1.09 0.34
CD at 1% 1.00 0.55 3.18 0.99

F-test NS * * *

CV % 4.16 15.00 2.85 5.15

*- Significant @ P= 0.01      NS - Non significant @ P = 0.01

Flowers dried in silica gel maintained best texture
of flower heads with highest score (4.31) followed by
control (shade), corn meal and alum powder which
recorded 3.63, 3.31 and 3.25 respectively. Mean highest
score for retaining best flower shape after drying period
was with silica gel (4.38). The phenomenon of
embedded drying is that during desiccation, the water
content of the flower is completely absorbed by the

surrounding desiccant material. Silica gel in powder
form is the quickest acting desiccant. Silica gel keeps
the flower colour well and could be used to dry the
flowers, which are difficult to preserve (Peggy, 1978).
Similar results were also by Keisarlourdusamy et al.
(2003) in gomphrena, Dahiya et al. (2004) in annual
chrysanthemum, Safeena (2006) in rose and Salma
(2010) in dendrobium.



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Ornamental sun flower for value addition

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 13(1) : 116-118, 2018

Table 2. Mean scores of sensory evaluation of dried sunflower flower genotype M-17R

Embedding Treatments Colour retention Appearance Texture Shape

Borax powder (T1) 2.88 3.06 2.94 2.81

Sand (T2) 3.00 2.69 2.94 2.75
Silica gel (T3) 4.44 4.44 4.31 4.38

Alum powder (T4) 3.44 3.13 3.25 3.19

Corn meal (T5) 3.31 2.81 3.31 3.31

Shade (T6) 4.63 3.81 3.63 3.22
Sem 0.27 0.32 0.20 0.22

CD @ 1% 0.80 0.94 0.58 0.65

F-test * * * *

CV % 14.96 14.00 11.51 13.39

Score: 5=very good, 4=good, 3=average, 2=poor, 1=not acceptable*- Significant @ P= 0.01
NS - Non significant @ P = 0.01

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(MS Received 10 September 2017, Revised 18 March 2018, Accepted 29 June 2018)