Asian Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition

Orchids are among the most valued ornamental flowers owing to their remarkable diversity in colour, shape, texture, and longevity. The present investigation was conducted to evaluate the effect of drying treatments on quality retention in nineteen orchid species under a Factorial Completely Randomized Design (FCRD). The experiment was carried out using three drying treatments, namely sun drying (T₁), silica gel drying at ambient conditions (T₂), and sand drying at ambient conditions (T₃). Significant differences among drying treatments were observed for all studied parameters. The orchid species were collected from different districts of the Chhattisgarh Plains. Among the orchid species, genotype CG-26-O₇ exhibited superior performance, whereas genotype CG-26-O5 exhibited inferior performance_. Silica gel drying (T₂) exhibited superior performance by retaining maximum flower colour, shape, texture, and overall aesthetic appeal, while also achieving optimum moisture removal and a higher recovery percentage. Sand drying (T₃) produced moderate-quality dried flowers, whereas sun drying (T₁) resulted in considerable colour fading and deformation of floral structures.

Embedding orchid flowers in silica gel significantly outperformed the other methods, i.e. sand drying and sun drying, yielding high-quality dried flowers suitable for use in framing, potpourri, and resin artwork. Orchids dried in silica gel exhibited the highest rates of moisture loss, 79-80 per cent, and a drying duration of 8 to 9 days, while preserving the original vibrant colour, texture, shape, and overall appearance of the orchids, with the highest sensory score of 9.00 (1-10 point scale). Orchid species CG-26-O7 and the embedding medium silica gel (T2) performed best with respect to qualitative attributes such as colour, texture, shape, and overall appearance in the drying of orchid species. Among the interaction effects, T₂ x CG-26-O₇ performed best, with the highest score of 9.33 among the qualitative attributes. Qualitative parameters were recorded using a 10-point scale. Among the quantitative parameters, the moisture loss percentage was found to be highest in T ₂ x CG-26-O16 (80.69). Among drying durations, the highest dry flower weight of 3.43 g was found in T ₂ x CG-26-O10 after 8 days. Some value-added products were prepared from orchids, such as frames and preservation using resin crafts.