JP2009102269A - Method for conserving cut flower - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem wherein, in a conventional method for conserving cut flowers comprising a dehydration process of dehydrating the tissue water of cut flowers by a solvent, and a process of dipping by immersing them in a polyhydric alcohol such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, a polyethylene glycol, a polypropylene glycol, glycerol, etc., or an ether of the polyhydric alcohol, such as glycol ether, there are many cases of having the insufficient decoloration of cut flowers, and especially in the case of dark-colored flowers by conventionally known methods, it has been difficult to achieve a fresh color tone in the cut flowers by a coloring process afterwards. <P>SOLUTION: This method for conserving cut flowers comprises incorporating an inorganic or organic reducing agent, e.g. a reducing agent having a mercapto group such as thioglycolic acid, etc., in the dehydrating or penetrating process of the cut flowers. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for preserving cut flowers.

  For example, Japanese Patent No. 3548744 of Patent Document 1 discloses a method for storing cut flowers in which fresh cut flowers such as roses and carnations are stored while maintaining their appearance. In the treatment method described, the tissue water in the cell tissue of cut flowers is dehydrated in an alcoholic solvent and then immersed in a mixed solvent of polyethylene glycol and an alcoholic solvent to permeate and replace polyethylene glycol as necessary. It is a method of coloring.

A part of the patent literature is listed.
Japanese Patent No. 3548744 Japanese Patent No. 3813165 Japanese Patent No. 3739599 Japanese Patent No. 3702996 JP 2001-288003 A

In the case of cut flowers that are difficult to decolorize in the case of decolorization of cut flowers by the conventionally known methods described in patent documents etc., decoloration is not sufficient, and it is not possible to obtain cut flowers with a clear color tone in the subsequent coloring process It was. This was particularly noticeable in light-colored colors such as white and pink.

As a result of intensive studies to improve these drawbacks, the present inventors have found that the object can be achieved by including a reducing agent in the cut flower treatment process.
According to the conventionally known technology, as described in Example 5 on page 6 (0025) of Japanese Patent No. 3813165 of Patent Document 2, an organic solvent such as alcohol and sodium hypochlorite are used for dehydration and decolorization of petals. A method of using an oxidizing agent of No. 5, and Japanese Patent No. 3548744 of Patent Document 1 on page 5 (0021), a step of bleaching with hydrogen peroxide solution is provided after air and tissue water in cut flowers are immersed in polyethylene glycol and replaced. Things are described.

    However, with this method, there is no problem in the case of a light pink flower that is relatively easy to decolorize, for example, it is difficult to decolorize, for example in the case of a dark flower, the decolorization is insufficient, and the color tone of the flower after coloring, especially white or light In the case of a pink color, the clearness of the color tone is insufficient. As a result of intensive studies, the present inventors have found that these problems can be solved by including a reducing agent in the cut flower treatment process. Although the decoloring process by a reducing agent may be provided independently, in order to simplify a process, you may combine with another process. For example, a method in which a reducing agent is included in the dehydration step or the infiltration step, or a reducing agent is included in the dehydration step and the infiltration step is more preferable.

As the reducing agent, inorganic and organic compounds can be used. For example, substances containing a mercapto group (-SH group) in the molecule such as thioglycolic acid, thiol protein, thiol enzyme, thiol group-containing amino acid, amino acids, hydrazines, formic acid, oxalic acid, aldehydes, diimides, Examples include L-ascorbic acid, hydrosulfite, sodium hydrosulfite, sodium pyrosulfite, potassium pyrosulfite, sodium sulfite, sodium hyposulfite, sodium thiosulfate, sodium bisulfite, sodium borohydride and the like. These reducing agents are used directly or dissolved in water or an organic solvent and added to the dewatered solution or osmotic solution.

  The solvent used in the dehydration process or infiltration process is more preferably a water-soluble or water-miscible solvent. For example, alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, glycol, glycol ether, MEK, acetone, THF, 1,3-dioxolane, acetonitrile, 1,2 dimethoxyethane, methyl acetate, dimethyl carbonate, propylene carbonate, cyclohexanone, DMF, PMA More suitable solvents are preferred.

  On the other hand, the materials used in the infiltration process are polyhydric alcohols such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, and glycerin, and ethers of these polyhydric alcohols such as glycol ether, and the hydrophilicity as necessary. Alternatively, a water miscible solvent can be used.

  If necessary, a dye or a pigment can be used for coloring, or a fluorescent dye or a fluorescent pigment can be used for the purpose of supplementing the clarity.

  Conventionally known methods such as the use of an oxidizing agent when decolorizing cut flowers have no problem in the case of flowers such as light pink cut flowers that are relatively easy to decolor, but are difficult to decolorize, such as dark colors. In the case of cut flowers, it is difficult to obtain a clear color tone when the target color tone is colored after decolorization. When a desired color tone is colored by adding a reducing agent during the cut flower treatment process as in the present invention, a clear color tone can be obtained.

  Dehydration step of dehydrating cut tissue water with a solvent, and penetration after dehydration, immersing in polyhydric alcohols such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, glycerin, etc. and ethers of these polyhydric alcohols such as glycol ether In the cut flower preserving method having a process, in the cut flower preserving method characterized by containing a reducing agent in the cut flower processing process, a decoloring step with the reducing agent may be provided independently, but the process is simplified. In order to make it possible, it may be combined with other processes. For example, it is more preferable to include a reducing agent in the dehydration process or the infiltration process, or to include a reducing agent in the dehydration process and the infiltration process.

  Examples will be described below, but the contents are not intended to limit the contents of the present invention.

Examples containing a reducing agent in the dehydration process
<Creation of white rose>
(Dehydration process) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
Acetone 110.0 parts Thioglycolic acid solution (90% pure content) 3.3 parts Stir well, put red cut roses and cap. Dehydrate for 8 hours while shaking gently with a shaker. Next, the cut rose is taken out and washed well in methanol.

(Penetration step) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
PEG 600 / methanol = 60/40 110.0 parts Dispersion with a titanium oxide concentration of 20% by weight 10.0 parts well, and after the dehydration treatment, the cut roses are added and the lid is closed. Infiltration treatment is performed for 15 hours while gently shaking with a shaker. Next, the cut rose is taken out, thoroughly washed with methanol, and air-dried. A clear pure white cut rose was obtained.

Example of containing a reducing agent in the infiltration process <Creation of white rose>
(Dehydration process) 110.0 parts of acetone is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bottle, a red cut rose is put in, and the lid is put on. Dehydrate for 8 hours while shaking gently with a shaker. Next, the cut rose is taken out and washed well with methanol.

(Penetration step) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
PEG600 / methanol = 60/40 110.0 parts Dispersion with titanium oxide concentration of 20% by weight 10.0 parts Thioglycolic acid solution (pure content 90%) 3.3 parts Stir well and insert the cut rose after dehydration Put the back lid on. Infiltration treatment is performed for 15 hours while gently shaking with a shaker. Next, the cut rose is taken out, thoroughly washed with methanol, and air-dried. As in Example 1, clear, pure white cut roses were obtained.

Examples containing a reducing agent in the dehydration and infiltration processes

<Creation of white rose>
(Dehydration process) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
Acetone 110.0 parts Thioglycolic acid solution (90% pure content) 3.3 parts Stir well, put red cut roses and cap. Dehydrate for 8 hours while shaking gently with a shaker. Next, the cut rose is taken out and washed well in methanol.

(Penetration step) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
PEG600 / methanol = 60/40 110.0 parts Dispersion with titanium oxide concentration of 20% by weight 10.0 parts Thioglycolic acid solution (pure content 90%) 3.3 parts Stir well and insert the cut rose after dehydration Put the back lid on. Infiltration treatment is performed for 15 hours while gently shaking with a shaker. Next, the cut rose is taken out, thoroughly washed with methanol, and air-dried. A clear pure white cut rose was obtained.
(Comparative Example 1)

<Making white roses>
(Dehydration process) 110.0 parts of acetone is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bottle, a red cut rose is put in, and the lid is put on. Dehydrate for 8 hours while shaking gently with a shaker. Next, the cut rose is taken out and washed well with methanol.

(Penetration step) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
PEG600 / methanol = 60/40 110.0 parts Dispersion with a titanium oxide concentration of 20% by weight 10.0 parts. Stir well, add cut roses after dehydration, and then cover. Infiltration treatment is performed for 15 hours while gently shaking with a shaker. Next, the cut rose is taken out, washed thoroughly in methanol and air-dried. Compared to the cut roses obtained in Examples 1, 2, and 3 containing a reducing agent in the process, the color was grayish white lacking in clarity.

Example containing reducing agent in dehydration process <Creation of Bordeaux color carnation>
(Dehydration process) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
Acetone 110.0 parts Thioglycolic acid solution (90% pure) 3.3 parts Stir well, add red carnation flower part and cover. Dehydrate for 6 hours while shaking gently with a shaker. The carnation is then removed and washed thoroughly in methanol.

(Penetration step) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
PEG 600 / methanol = 60/40 110.0 parts Bordeaux color dye 3.0 parts Stir well to dissolve the dye. Put the carnation after dehydration and put on the lid. Infiltration treatment is performed for 15 hours while gently shaking with a shaker. Next, the carnation is taken out, washed thoroughly with methanol and air-dried. A clear Bordeaux carnation was obtained.

Examples containing a reducing agent in the dehydration and infiltration processes
<Create a red carnation>
(Dehydration process) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
Acetone 110.0 parts Thioglycolic acid solution (90% pure) 3.3 parts Stir well, add orange carnation flower part and cover. Dehydrate for 6 hours while shaking gently with a shaker. The carnation is then removed and washed thoroughly in methanol.

(Penetration step) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
PEG 600 / methanol = 60/40 110.0 parts Red dye 5.0 parts Thioglycolic acid solution (pure content 90%) 3.3 parts Stir well to dissolve the dye. Put the carnation after dehydration and put on the lid. Infiltration treatment is performed for 15 hours while gently shaking with a shaker. Next, the carnation is taken out, washed thoroughly with methanol and air-dried. A clear red carnation was obtained.
(Comparative Example 2)

<Create Bordeaux Carnation>
(Dehydration process) 110.0 parts of acetone is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bottle. Put the red carnation flower part and cover it. Dehydrate for 6 hours while shaking gently with a shaker. The carnation is then removed and washed thoroughly in methanol.

(Penetration step) The following composition is put into a 250 cc mayonnaise bin.
PEG 600 / methanol = 60/40 110.0 parts Bordeaux color dye 3.0 parts Stir well to dissolve the dye. Put the carnation after dehydration and put on the lid. Infiltration treatment is performed for 15 hours while gently shaking with a shaker. Next, the carnation is taken out, washed thoroughly with methanol and air-dried. Bordeaux carnations lacking in clarity were obtained.

Claims (6)

A dehydration step of dehydrating the tissue water of cut flowers with a solvent, ethylene glycol after dehydration,
In a method for preserving cut flowers having a permeation step of immersing in polyhydric alcohols such as diethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, glycerin, or ethers of these polyhydric alcohols such as glycol ethers, a reducing agent is added during the preservation treatment step. A method for preserving cut flowers, characterized by containing them.
The method for preserving cut flowers according to claim 1, wherein the dehydrating step contains a reducing agent. The method for preserving cut flowers according to claim 1, further comprising a reducing agent in the permeation step. The method for preserving cut flowers according to claim 1, wherein a reducing agent is contained in the dehydration step and the infiltration step. The method for preserving cut flowers according to claim 1, wherein the reducing agent is a compound having a mercapto group (—SH group) in a molecule such as thioglycolic acid. Solvents in the dehydration process and infiltration process are alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, glycol, glycol ether, MEK, acetone, THF, 1,3-dioxolane, acetonitrile, 1,2 dimethoxyethane, methyl acetate, dimethyl carbonate, propylene carbonate The method for preserving cut flowers according to claim 1, wherein the method is a water-soluble or water-miscible solvent such as cyclohexanone, DMF, or PMA.