How to keep the plants and flowers fresh in storage and during transport, and how to guarantee a sufficient supply volume during the peak period of the sales season? In this article, Manager Li of Shandong AWT Bio-tech Co., Ltd. talks about several factors that impact the quality of fresh-cut flowers and how their fresh-keeping solutions, the LogFresh 1-MCP cards, can help keeping flower fresh longer.
Manager Li first introduced several factors that impact the quality of fresh-cut flowers. "It is obviously important to take good care of the flowers before they are harvested, but the post-harvest physiology is key to control over freshness and product quality. In addition to sufficient moisture, traders should also control hormone levels. Abscisic acid helps control cell division and cell lengthening in plants. Ethylene is equally important. Ethylene stimulates aging and deterioration in a variety of flowers including carnations, lilies, violets, and the majority of orchids. Flowers age because of ethylene, while flower buds turn yellow and fall off. Ethylene also causes leaves to droop or drop. Take the poinsettia as an example, or most potted flowers. Their leaves just wilt and fall off because of the impact of ethylene."
"Lengthening the shelf life of flowers requires low temperatures, lack of oxygen, high levels of CO2, and ethylene inhibitors. Fresh-cut flowers that will stay in storage or transport for quite some time require hydration treatment beforehand. Fresh-cut flowers that are sensitive to ethylene can be treated with silver thiosulfate (STS), and additional 1-MCP treatment can produce even better results. 1-MCP competes with ethylene for ethylene receptors in fresh-cut flowers, and its effect lasts a long time. The connection between 1-MCP and ethylene receptors in fresh-cut flowers is irreversible, which prevents ethylene from binding with ethylene receptors, and so the process of deterioration is postponed," explains Li.
"Ethylene inhibition and movement is key to the preservation of fresh-cut flowers. And our LogFresh 1-MCP fresh-keeping cards are extremely effective in keeping fresh-cut flowers and plants fresh," says manager Li. "We have put different fresh-cut flower varieties through a series of experiments to test the effectiveness of our LogFresh 1-MCP cards. The result is impressive. Carnations, Chrysanthemums, Chinese bellflowers, roses, lilies, tulips, fragrant China pink flowers, and Baby's Breath all stay fresh for 3-5 days longer when we added the LogFresh 1-MCP cards."
The LogFresh cards are simple and convenient. "When added to the ice box during the transport of fresh-cut flowers, LogFresh 1-MCP cards can reduce the breathing process in fresh-cut flowers and lower the heat emission. The LogFresh cards can be placed between two flowers and the size of the card can be adjusted on the basis of the packaging size. 1-2 cards per layer is enough. After the cards are placed, the box is sealed. The LogFresh cards keep the flowers fresh during transport. In this way, clients enjoy flowers that are fresh upon delivery and stay fresh for longer," said manager Li.
Shandong AWT Bio-tech has more than 25 years of experience in research and development of fresh-keeping solutions for the fruit, vegetable, and fresh-cut flower industries. The company develops post-harvest fresh-keeping technologies for fruit, vegetable, and fresh-cut flower industries. Shandong AWT Bio-tech first developed 1-MCP solutions for apples, and then followed with a series of fresh-keeping products for fresh-cut flowers, mangoes, bananas, and grapes. The 1-MCP product series are already registered in Argentine, New Zealand, and Australia. And the company is looking for strategic partners in even more areas across the globe.
For more information:
Manager Li
Shandong AWT Bio-tech Co., Ltd.
WhatsApp: +86 18615225880
WeChat: +86 18615221030
E-mail: sales@awt-biotech.com
Website: www.chinesepost-harvest.com