JPH08301701A - Freshness retaining agent - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a freshness retaining agent composition, excellent in safety and economical efficiency, enabling the supplement of nutrients and retention of the freshness and adaptable to cut flowers, vegetables, fruits, etc., by combining specific two kinds of compounds. CONSTITUTION: This freshness retaining agent composition uses a urea-calcium chloride salt and α-aminoisobutyric acid or its salt in combination. The composition is preferably an aqueous solution containing about 0.1-50% urea-calcium chloride salt and about 0.1-20% α-aminoisobutyric acid or its salt. The urea- calcium chloride salt in the composition converts nitrogen components and calcium components into a form readily absorbable into a plant body and effects as nutrients by an increase in the absorbed amount of an ammoniacal nitrogen fertilizer in the plant body can be increased and the plant body can be made healthy by the moderate absorption of the calcium components in the plant body. Furthermore, the absorbed amount of the acid in the plant body can moderately be increased by synergistic effects thereof with the α-aminoisobutyric acid or its salt. Thereby, generation of ethylene is suppressed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a freshness-retaining composition and a method for maintaining the freshness of cut flowers, vegetables, fruits and the like using the composition.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Preserving the freshness of cut flowers, vegetables, fruits and the like is an important technique as a method for giving a margin to the storage and transportation of them, and various studies have been conducted. The main means for maintaining freshness are to prevent the generation of ethylene, which induces a senescence phenomenon in plants, and to provide plants with sufficient nutrients after harvest to keep the harvest healthy. Although various measures have been taken for the former, the use of silver thiosulfate (STS), α-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB), etc. has been proposed as a chemical measure. But,
In the use of these chemical substances, STS is not sufficiently effective, and further contains heavy metals in the molecule, and is in the direction of abolition from the viewpoint of safety and global environment conservation. on the other hand,
Since AIB is an amino acid, there is no worry about safety, but
Its use is limited due to insufficient effects, increased use amount, and high price.

On the other hand, as a means for providing sufficient nutrients,
The simplest means is to give water, but that is not enough and water containing small amounts of sugars, amino acids, nitrogen fertilizers, etc. is given. However, if these measures are not taken carefully, it will not be possible to achieve sufficient effects.
Satisfactory results cannot be obtained by this means alone because the aging phenomenon due to the generation of ethylene also progresses.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a composition which is excellent in safety and cost, and which enables supplementation of nutrients and preservation of freshness, and a method of using the same.

[0005]

The present invention relates to a freshness-retaining composition containing urea-calcium chloride salt and α-aminoisobutyric acid or a salt thereof, and cut flowers, vegetables and fruits using the composition. It relates to the method of maintaining the freshness of the product.

Regarding the main component of the composition used in the present invention, urea-calcium chloride salt, US Pat. No. 4,555,907
No. 6 and WO90 / 11262 describe stirring and mixing urea and a salt consisting of a divalent cation and a monovalent anion in water, but those produced by these conventional production methods are precipitated during storage. It was found that a substance was deposited, and a biological test using the substance could not exert a sufficient effect. The present inventors have conducted various studies to solve these problems, and as a result, when produced in a heated state of 50 ° C. to 100 ° C., salt precipitation during storage does not occur, and a target product that is satisfactory in biological tests is obtained. I found that I could be.

In the present invention, other alkaline earth metal chlorides such as magnesium chloride may be used in place of part of calcium chloride. In the method for producing the above salt, a method of mixing urea and calcium chloride in water at a temperature of 50 ° C to 100 ° C can be adopted. Further, in the present invention, a method of adding calcium chloride and / or calcium chloride aqueous solution to the urea aqueous solution, a method of adding urea and / or urea aqueous solution to the calcium chloride and / or calcium chloride aqueous solution, and the like can also be adopted. It is preferable to add the calcium chloride aqueous solution to the urea aqueous solution from the viewpoint that the temperature can be easily secured.

Regardless of which method is used, the temperature of the mixed aqueous solution is preferably in the range of 50 ° C to 100 ° C.
If it is produced at a temperature of less than 50 ° C, the desired composition cannot be obtained and the biological effect and stability are poor, which is not preferable. This is not preferable because it causes problems such as changes in concentration and excessive energy consumption. The mixing molar ratio of urea and calcium chloride is preferably about 1 to 1/4 of calcium chloride with respect to 1 of urea, and more preferably about 1/2 which is the theoretical amount or about 5% excess of urea. It is good to use quantity. With such a formulation, stability and absorbability into plants are improved. The mixing time is 5
Minutes to about 24 hours, usually about 1 to 2 hours are sufficient. The salt obtained as described above did not form a precipitate even after being stored for a long period of time, and it was recognized that the salt was remarkably improved in comparison with the biological effect produced by the conventional technique. The concentration of urea-calcium chloride salt can be set arbitrarily,
It is preferable to use it after adjusting to a solution containing 60%, and the salt produced in an aqueous solution can be used as it is.

The other α-aminoinobutyric acid and its salts according to the present invention are generally widely existing compounds and are often used in the fields of medicine and plant physiology for studies on absorption and metabolism of amino acids in plant and animal cells. ing. Further, it was discovered in 1980 that it was an inhibitor of ethylene biosynthesis, and a test example as a cut flower shelf-life agent is described in this month's December issue of Agriculture (1994), 40-43. In this test, the carnation has a long shelf life, but it is not sufficient as a freshness-retaining agent for various crops. When urea-calcium chloride salt, which is a factor, and α-aminoisobutyric acid or a salt thereof, which is a factor for preventing ethylene generation, are used in combination, favorable results that could not be expected due to a synergistic effect were obtained.

The composition of the present invention is preferably an aqueous solution containing about 0.1 to 50% urea-calcium chloride salt and about 0.1 to 20% α-aminoisobutyric acid or a salt thereof. The desired composition can be obtained by mixing both in an aqueous solution, and can be used as it is. However, in some cases, a spreading agent or surfactant commonly used for agricultural materials, and trace amounts required by plants. It is also possible to add elements and the like. When treating the plant with the present composition, the composition may be used as it is, or may be diluted with water to a predetermined concentration before use. For example, when using it as a cut flower shelf-life, 50% salt is used.
~ 5000ppm, AIB to 10 ~ 3000ppm to prepare an aqueous solution, soak the cut flowers for about 1 to 24 hours. In the case of maintaining the freshness of vegetables and fruits, for example, salt is 50 to 10000 ppm and AIB is 10 to 5000 p.
Immerse in an aqueous solution containing pm for several hours or spray. The urea-calcium salt in the composition is in a form in which the nitrogen component and the calcium component are easily absorbed by the plant body, and the effect as a nutrient and the calcium component are increased by increasing the absorption amount of the ammoniacal nitrogen fertilizer into the plant body. The plant body can be made healthy by the appropriate absorption of the plant body into the plant body. Further, considering the synergistic effect of salt and AIB, the amount of AIB absorbed into the plant body is appropriately increased, and it is expected that the generation of ethylene is suppressed. From these results, it was found that the composition of the present invention is very effective for prolonging the life of cut flowers and maintaining the freshness of vegetables and fruits.

[0011]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention, comparative examples and test examples will be shown below for further detailed description.

Test Example 1 Cut flower life-prolonging effect 300 ml of each test solution was placed in a 1-liter beaker, carnation (variety: coral) immediately after flowering was cut into 60 cm pieces, and 10 pieces were placed in each beaker. It should be noted that the test section was made up of 10 sections and 2 sections. The survey was carried out daily after the start of the test, and the number of petals with swollen petals or broken stems was counted. In addition, the data shows 5 abnormal flowers according to the graph.
It was defined as the number of days until it exceeded 0%. The results are shown in Table 1.

[0013]

[Table 1]

Test Example 2 Freshness-preserving effect of vegetables Immediately after harvesting strawberries (cultivar: Toyonoka), an aqueous solution having a predetermined concentration was sprayed and stored at room temperature for 3 days. After storage, the hardness of the fruit was measured to confirm the storage state. The measurement was performed on 20 fruits and the average value was calculated. Hardness is 3 using Leoner
The hardness of the fruit was defined as the first peak of the waveform drawn when the flesh was compressed from the equatorial part of the skin (compression speed: 5 mm / sec) with a spherical plunger having a diameter of mm. The higher the hardness value, the better the storage condition. The results are shown in Table 2.

[0015]

[Table 2]

Test Example 3 Fruit Freshness Retaining Effect Immediately after harvesting apples (cultivar: Tsugaru), an aqueous solution having a predetermined concentration was sprayed and stored at room temperature for 7 days, after which the hardness of the fruit surface was measured. An average value of 5 pieces was used for the measurement, and a handy type hardness meter was used as the measuring method. The results are shown in Table 3.

[0017]

[Table 3]

[0018]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, it is possible to replenish the nutrients of cut flowers, vegetables, fruits and the like and maintain their freshness by using a composition excellent in safety and economy.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A freshness-retaining composition comprising urea-calcium chloride salt and α-aminoisobutyric acid or a salt thereof. 2. A method for maintaining the freshness of cut flowers using the composition of claim 1. 3. A method for maintaining the freshness of vegetables and fruits using the composition of claim 1.