JP2001131001A - Treating method of preserving cut flowers - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dissolve problems such as waste fluid treatment and wasting of natural resources due to the solution is an organic solvent and keeping the solution in a container requires a string space, occurring in disposing unused solution for penetration relating to a conventional technology which substitutes a tissue water with a polyethylene glycol by penetrating polyethylene glycol after dehydrating the water in cellular organization of the cut flowers, i.e., the tissue water and dyeing the flowers to a desired color, in a treating method making cut flowers such as a rose or the like as capable of using as decoration for a long time while preserving appearance like a fresh flower. SOLUTION: This treating method of preserving cut flowers provides a decoloring process decoloring the liquid for penetration by passing the colored liquid through a column filled with a decoloring agent and recycling the decolored penetrating liquid.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for preserving cut flowers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 4-505766 proposes a processing method which enables cut flowers such as roses to be decorated over a long period of time while maintaining the same appearance as fresh flowers. . This treatment method is to dehydrate water in the cell tissue of cut flowers, that is, tissue water, then penetrate polyethylene glycol, replace tissue water with polyethylene glycol, and perform staining as necessary. As shown in FIG. 3, the treatment is sequentially performed through a dehydration step, a permeation step, and a drying step to obtain a cut flower as a product having the same appearance as a fresh flower.

[0003] The dehydration step is carried out by spreading an appropriate amount of molecular sieve on the bottom and fixing cut flowers in a container filled with a solvent having a specific gravity lower than that of water, for example, an anhydrous organic solvent such as acetone.
In this process, the water in the tissue of the cut flower, that is, the tissue water, gradually elutes into the solvent and at the same time the solvent moves into the tissue, so that the tissue of the cut flower is gradually dissolved in the tissue water while its mechanical structure is maintained. And is dehydrated.

[0004] The infiltration step is performed by fixing cut flowers in a container filled with an infiltration solution in which polyethylene glycol to be infiltrated is dissolved in acetone and cellosolve. At this time, polyethylene glycol having a different molecular weight is appropriately blended. To use. At this time, for example, by mixing a dye such as a textile dye for acrylic fiber into the infiltration solution, the dye penetrates into the tissue of the cut flower together with the polyethylene glycol for dyeing.

[0005] After a predetermined time has passed in the infiltration step, the infiltration solution is discharged, and then drying is performed in the next drying step.
It becomes a cut flower as a product.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned method for preserving cut flowers, there are a plurality of colors of cut flowers as products, and when these are processed at the same time, the dye corresponding to each color is used. A large amount of space is required because an infiltration solution to be used is also required for each color. Also, if the permeating solution of the color that is no longer used at that time is to be discarded, it is an organic solvent, which causes a problem of waste liquid treatment and waste of resources. There is a problem that it becomes necessary.

[0007] In addition to the above problems, the above-mentioned conventional technology has the following problems. a. First, in the prior art, depending on the type of cut flower, dyeing is not performed uniformly, and uneven dyeing may occur. In this case, the product value of the cut flower is significantly reduced. As a result of the inventor's earnest experiment and study, it has been found that the cause of uneven dyeing is that the penetration of the permeation solution into the petal cell tissue is uneven depending on the petal portion.
That is, after the water in the cell tissue is replaced with an anhydrous organic solvent such as acetone in the dehydration step, the solvent is replaced with a permeation solution containing polyethylene glycol in the permeation step. Different for each organization. Therefore, at the point in time when the permeation process has passed for a predetermined time, in a cell tissue having a high replacement rate, the solvent is immediately replaced with the permeation solution and stained with the dye added therein, but the cells with a slow replacement rate are stained. In tissues, the color will be lighter due to the lower percentage of permeate solution replaced by solvent.

B. Further, in the related art, there are the following problems regarding the dewatering process. That is, as described above,
Since the water eluted from the cut flowers into the solvent during the dehydration process is greater than the specific gravity of the solvent, the specific gravity of acetone tends to gradually increase due to the eluted water. While the molecular sieve is new, most of the eluted water is adsorbed by the molecular sieve, so that the specific gravity corresponding to the water content does not increase significantly, and the dehydration by the solvent is maintained. However, when the dehydration process proceeds and the total amount of eluted water exceeds the water adsorption capacity of the molecular sieve, the water remaining without being adsorbed causes the specific gravity of the solvent to rise sharply and the solvent dewatering capacity to be rapidly lost. . Conventionally, since such dehydration ability is not monitored, the dehydration process may proceed as it is even though the solvent dehydration ability is lost.
It is difficult to perform efficient dehydration.

C. Next, in the prior art, the cut flowers after the infiltration process are dried as they are in the drying process,
There are the following issues. That is, since acetone and cellosolve are volatile in the components of the permeation solution and thus diffuse into the air during the drying process, polyethylene glycol, which is a high-molecular substance, remains as it is on the outer surface of the petals. Polyethylene glycol remaining on the outer surface of the petals absorbs moisture in the atmosphere above a certain level of humidity and becomes sticky when touched. The value will be significantly reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has as its main object to solve the problem relating to the color of an infiltration solution or the like in the above-mentioned method for preserving and treating cut flowers, and to solve the above-mentioned problem in the prior art. is there.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, as described in claim 1, a dehydration step of dehydrating cut tissue water with a solvent, and staining with polyethylene glycol after dehydration. In a method for preserving a cut flower having a permeation step of permeating a permeation solution containing a dye for use and replacing tissue water with polyethylene glycol, a decolorization step of decolorizing by passing the permeation solution through a column filled with a decolorizing material is provided. The present invention proposes a method for preserving cut flowers in which the permeated solution that has undergone the decolorization step is reused.

According to the present invention, in the above structure, the dye for dyeing is added to the solvent in the dehydration step, and the dehydrating solvent containing the dye is filled with a decolorizing material. The present invention proposes a method for preserving cut flowers, in which a decolorization step of decolorizing by passing through a column subjected to decolorization is provided, and a solvent for dehydration after the decolorization step is reused.

Further, according to the present invention, as set forth in claim 3, in the above configuration, a washing step is provided for washing the cut flowers in which the tissue water has been replaced by polyethylene glycol in the infiltration step with a solvent not containing polyethylene glycol. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for preserving cut flowers, in which a decolorizing step is provided in which a solvent for washing is passed through a column filled with a decolorizing material to decolorize, and the solvent for washing after the decolorizing step is reused.

According to the present invention, it is proposed that the decolorizing material be activated carbon in the above structure.

In the present invention, as described in claim 5,
In the above configuration, the dehydration step shall be performed by laying an appropriate amount of molecular sieve on the bottom and fixing cut flowers in a container filled with a solvent having a smaller specific gravity than water, and in this step,
By measuring the specific gravity of the solvent, the dehydration ability according to the progress of dehydration is monitored, and a method for preserving cut flowers is proposed, which detects the point of time when the molecular sieve is replaced.

According to the present invention, as described in claim 6, in the above structure, the solvent in the dehydration step is acetone, and as described in claim 7, in the above structure, the solvent in the permeation step and the washing step is Proposes to use a mixed solvent of acetone and cellosolve.

According to the present invention, the infiltration solution containing the dye for dyeing, the solvent for dehydration, and the solvent for washing are decolorized and reused. There is no need to discard the infiltration solution, the solvent for dehydration, or the solvent for washing, so that there is no problem of waste liquid treatment and waste of resources, and no storage space is required.

In addition to the above, according to the second aspect of the present invention,
Since the dye is added to the solvent in the cell tissue that has been replaced with water in the dehydration step, when the dye is added and stained in the permeation step, the replacement speed with the permeation solution is slow, and the permeation replaced with the solvent is performed. Even in the petal portion where the proportion of the solution is low, the dye concentration does not change, so that uneven dyeing can be avoided.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the dehydration ability of the solvent can be monitored by measuring the specific gravity of the solvent,
By detecting the point at which the specific gravity rises rapidly and replacing the molecular sieve with a new one at that point, the dehydration ability of the solvent is restored, and the solvent can be used continuously. On the other hand, the exchanged molecular sieve can be reused by drying.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the polyethylene glycol remaining adhered to the outer surface of the petal after the infiltration process can be washed away with a solvent, and the excess polyethylene glycol on the outer surface of the petal is removed to remove the polyethylene glycol. Stickiness after the process can be prevented.

[0021]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the flow of the process of the preservation treatment method for cut flowers according to the present invention. In this treatment method, cut flowers are stored through a dehydration step, a permeation step, a washing step, and a drying step. At this time, desired colors (A, B, C, ...)
Perform staining. First, in the dehydration step, as in the above-described conventional technique, a molecular sieve (adsorbing water eluted from petals) is placed at the bottom of a dehydration container having an appropriate size, that is, a size corresponding to the amount of cut flowers to be processed at the same time. Product name zeolite)
Is spread in a thickness of about 2 cm, cut flowers are fixed in the container for dehydration, and a solvent having a specific gravity smaller than that of water, in this example, 100% acetone is filled as a solvent for dehydration, and the treatment is carried out. At this time, the desired color (A,
(B, C,...), Or a mixture of dyes is added to the solvent. As described above, in this embodiment, since the dye is added to the solvent for dehydration, a dehydration container is provided for each of the colors (A, B, C,...) To be processed at the same time. Examples of the added dye and the concentration thereof are the same as those in the permeation process described later, and will be described later. The dehydration process in the above state is allowed to proceed at room temperature (20 to 30 ° C.), and a minimum of 2
Treated for 4 hours. Extending the dehydration cycle beyond 48 hours did not find any particular benefit. During the above-mentioned dehydration process, the specific gravity of the solvent was constantly measured and monitored with a hydrometer. In one experiment, as the dehydration process proceeds,
The specific gravity of acetone, which is a solvent, slowly increased from 0.78 of 100% acetone, but rapidly increased from a point exceeding 0.82. When the specific gravity reached 0.85, the effect of dehydration was hardly recognized. From this, it can be estimated that, under the conditions of this experiment, before and after the specific gravity of the solvent reached 0.82, the total amount of eluted water exceeded the water adsorption capacity of the molecular sieve. Therefore, if the molecular sieve is replaced with a new one at this point, the solvent can be dehydrated and the solvent can be used continuously, so that the solvent can be used continuously, so that the dehydration process can proceed without wasting time. The exchanged molecular sieve can be reused by drying.

In the above-mentioned dehydration process, water in the tissue of cut flowers, ie, tissue water, gradually elutes into acetone, and at the same time, acetone moves into the tissues together with the dissolved pigment. While maintaining its mechanical structure, the tissue water is gradually replaced by acetone and dehydrated. Since a predetermined concentration of dye is added to the acetone in the tissue of the cut flower replaced with the tissue water, the cell tissue is in a state stained with the dye.

Next, in the infiltration step, polyethylene glycol to be infiltrated was dissolved in acetone and cellosolve to form an infiltration solution, which was filled in an infiltration container in which cut flowers were fixed. The permeation solution is polyethylene glycol with different molecular weights (eg PEG1000 and PEG400)
Are mixed as appropriate, for example, in the following proportions, and this is mixed with acetone:
It was prepared by dissolving in a solvent such as Cellosolve = 1: 1, and the same dye as that added to the solvent in the dehydration step was added thereto to a predetermined concentration. Of course, this dehydrating container is also provided for each of the colors (A, B, C,...) To be processed simultaneously. Example of infiltration solution PEG1000 500 g PEG400 100 ml Acetone: cellosolve = 1: 1 solvent was added to make the total amount 1
Liters. Since the infiltration solution in the above proportion hardens at 15 ° C or less, it is kept at a processing temperature of at least the solidification temperature, for example, about 25 to 35 ° C, by immersing it in a hot water or putting it in an incubator, and treating for about 24 hours. By doing so, an optimal penetration effect was obtained. Theoretically, the treatment time can be reduced by performing the infiltration treatment at a high temperature. However, in actual experimental results, the treatment time at room temperature (20 to 30 ° C.) is higher than that obtained by performing the treatment at 50 ° C. for 12 hours. The polyethylene glycol permeated more uniformly after the time treatment. Examples of dyes added in dehydration step and permeation step Dye name: methyl red Color: Vermilion (orange) Concentration: 3 (g / l) Dye name: tartrazine Color: yellow Concentration: 1 (g / l) Dye name: acid green 25 (acid green 25) Color: green Density: 2 (g / l) Pigment name: acid blue 80 Color: blue Density: 2 (g / l) Pigment name: Rhodamine B Color: pink (purple red) Concentration: 2 (g / l) The pigments above are solids (powder), and the concentration is the concentration with respect to the solvent for dehydration and the permeation solution. The above dyes are used alone when dyeing cut flowers into primary colors, but when dyeing into intermediate colors, these dyes may be appropriately mixed.

In the above-described permeation step, acetone in the cell tissue replaced with the tissue water in the dehydration step is replaced with a permeation solution containing polyethylene glycol, but the rate differs for each cell tissue. . In other words, acetone is immediately replaced by the infiltration solution in the cell tissue with a fast replacement rate, but acetone remains in the cell tissue without being replaced by the infiltration solution until a sufficient time has elapsed in the cell tissue with a slow replacement rate. Would. Therefore, in the conventional technique of adding a dye only to the permeation solution and performing staining only in the permeation process, the treatment time of the permeation process is set to a sufficiently long time until acetone is replaced with the permeation solution for all cell tissues. Otherwise, in tissue with a slower replacement rate, the amount of dye migrating into the tissue will be reduced in proportion to the amount of residual acetone, so that the concentration of dye in this tissue will be lower and therefore the color will be lighter. This was uneven dyeing. In other words, the cause of uneven dyeing in the prior art is
This is also because the penetration of the permeation solution into the cell tissue is uneven in some parts, that is, there is a difference in the amount of polyethylene glycol that penetrates depending on the petal site of the cut flower.
In contrast, in the present invention, since the dye is also added to acetone for dehydration, the dye is also contained in acetone in the cell tissue replaced with tissue water, and the replacement speed is low. Even if acetone remains in the cell tissue, the dye concentration in the cell tissue does not change, so that uneven staining can be avoided. However, the present invention in which the dye is added in the dehydration step can avoid uneven dyeing, but does not increase the replacement speed depending on the site of the cell tissue. It is necessary to determine in consideration of the possibility of occurrence of problems such as distortion of cut flowers and partial overdrying due to non-uniformity, and the productivity of cut flowers to be dyed. That is, in general, when a product having uneven dyeing is compared with a product in which the polyethylene glycol penetration amount is somewhat uneven but the dyeing is uniform, the evaluation of the product having uneven dyeing is remarkable. If the effect of some degree of non-uniformity of polyethylene glycol is practically harmless,
When the present invention is applied, there is an advantage that productivity can be prevented from lowering because uneven dyeing can be avoided without extending the processing time in the permeation process. It is preferable that the concentration of the dye in the dehydration step is equal to or slightly lower than the concentration of the dye in the permeation step.

Next, in the washing step, the cut flowers that have undergone the infiltration step are treated with acetone: cellosolve =
Washing was performed by immersion in a 1: 1 solvent for a predetermined time, for example, 2 to 8 hours. In this case, if the cut flowers are immersed in the solvent for a longer time than necessary, the polyethylene glycol itself that has permeated into the tissue of the petal cells during the immersion process also flows out, so that time management is required. In this time management, the immersion time may be set based on data obtained by an experiment in advance under conditions such as the type and size of cut flowers.

After the washing step, the cut flowers are dried through an appropriate drying step as described in the above-mentioned prior art, so that decoration over a long period of time can be achieved while maintaining the same appearance as fresh flowers. A cut flower product can be obtained.

In the method for preserving cut flowers described above,
If there are multiple colors of cut flowers as products and they are processed at the same time, the dehydrating solvent, penetrating solution and washing solvent that contain the dye corresponding to each color should be dehydrated for each color. It is necessary to put it in a container for permeation, a container for permeation, and a container for washing, and treat it. In the process of producing a cut flower product of each color in this way, when production of cut flowers of any color becomes unnecessary, in the present invention,
Instead of discarding these dehydrating solvent, permeating solution and washing solvent, decolorization is performed in the decolorization step. That is, in the decoloring process, the dehydrating solvent, the permeating solution, and the washing solvent are decolorized by passing through a column filled with a decolorizing material, and after decolorizing, to a color as a product of the cut flower currently being produced. Reuse in the corresponding preservation process.
For example, in the example of FIG. 1, a dehydrating solvent, a permeating solution, and a cleaning solvent corresponding to an unnecessary color among the colors (B, C,...) Are combined with a dehydrating process, a permeating process, and a cleaning process corresponding to the color A. Indicates that it can be reused. Of course, according to the present invention, it is possible to reuse each color.
Thus, in the present invention, the problem of waste liquid treatment and waste of resources does not occur, and the dehydration container, the permeation container, and the cleaning container can be effectively used. When using the above-mentioned dyes, since those dyes all have a benzene ring, by using activated carbon as the decolorizing material, a substantially complete decoloring effect can be obtained, and the color can be reused for other colors. Becomes possible.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing another embodiment of the process flow of the cut flower preservation processing method according to the present invention. The flow of this processing method is the same as the flow of the processing method shown in FIG. Each of the colors of the cut flowers as a product has a dehydration step, a permeation step, a washing step, and a drying step. In this treatment method, no pigment is added to the solvent for dehydration in the dehydration step. Other steps are the same as the processing method shown in FIG. This treatment method is suitable for application to cut flowers in which the permeability of the permeation solution into the cell tissue is partially nonuniform in some parts. In the processing method of FIG.
While a dehydration container is required for each dye to be dyed,
The processing method of FIG. 2 has an advantage that a common dehydration container can be used because the dehydration container is not affected by the dye to be dyed in the permeation process. Therefore,
In this embodiment, as shown in the figure, the permeation solution and the washing solvent are decolorized in the decolorization step and are reused.

In the present invention, cut flowers to be preserved include leaves and stems.

[0030]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects. a. Penetration solution containing dye for dyeing, solvent for dehydration,
Since the washing solvent is decolorized and reused, there is no need to discard the permeate solution, dehydration solvent, or washing solvent of the color that is no longer used at that time, so that waste liquid treatment and resource And no storage space is required. b. In the invention according to claim 2, since the dye is added to the solvent in the cell tissue that has been replaced with water in the dehydration step, when the dye is added and stained in the permeation step, the rate of replacement with the permeation solution is reduced. Even in the petal portion where the percentage of the permeating solution replaced with the solvent is low, the concentration of the pigment does not change, so that it is possible to avoid uneven dyeing, and therefore, without increasing the processing time in the permeation process, Uneven dyeing can be avoided, and the productivity is not reduced. c. In the invention according to claim 5, by measuring the specific gravity of the solvent, it is possible to monitor the dehydration ability of the solvent, detect the point at which the specific gravity rapidly increases, and replace the molecular sieve with a new one at that point. , Restores the solvent's dehydration ability and enables continuous use. Therefore, in the dehydration process,
Despite the loss of the solvent dehydration ability, the dehydration process does not proceed as it is,
The dewatering process proceeds without wasting time, and an efficient dewatering process can be performed. c. According to the invention of claim 4, the polyethylene glycol remaining in an adhering state on the outer surface of the petal after the permeation process can be washed away with a solvent, and the excess polyethylene glycol on the outer surface of the petal is removed, so that the stickiness after the drying process is reduced. Occurrence can be prevented, and the product value of the product can be significantly increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of a process flow of a cut flower preservation processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing another embodiment of the process flow of the cut flower preservation processing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process of a conventional cut flower storage processing method.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A dehydration step of dehydrating tissue water of cut flowers using a solvent, and a permeation step of permeating a permeation solution containing polyethylene glycol and a dye for staining after dehydration to replace the tissue water with polyethylene glycol. A method for preserving cut flowers, comprising the steps of: providing a decolorizing step of decolorizing a permeated solution by passing the permeated solution through a column filled with a decolorizing material, and reusing the permeated solution after the decolorizing step. 2. A decolorizing step in which a dye for dyeing is also added to a solvent in a dehydrating step, and a decolorizing step of decolorizing by passing a dehydrating solvent containing the dye through a column filled with a decolorizing material is provided.
The method for preserving cut flowers according to claim 1, wherein the solvent for dehydration that has undergone the decolorization step is reused. 3. A washing step for washing the cut flowers in which the tissue water has been replaced by polyethylene glycol in the infiltration step with a solvent containing no polyethylene glycol is provided, and the washing solvent is passed through a column filled with a destaining material to decolorize. The method for preserving cut flowers according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a decolorizing step is performed, and the solvent for washing that has passed through the decolorizing step is reused. 4. The method for preserving cut flowers according to claim 1, wherein the decolorizing material is activated carbon. 5. The dehydration step shall be performed by laying an appropriate amount of molecular sieve on the bottom and fixing cut flowers in a container filled with a solvent having a specific gravity lower than that of water. In this step, the specific gravity of the solvent is measured. The method for preserving cut flowers according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the dehydration ability according to the progress of dehydration is monitored to detect the time point of replacement of the molecular sieve. 6. The method for preserving cut flowers according to claim 1, wherein the solvent in the dehydration step is acetone. 7. The method for preserving cut flowers according to claim 1, wherein the solvent in the infiltration step and the washing step is a mixed solvent of acetone and cellosolve.