Response of drying in hot air oven on quality of rose flowers

An experiment was laid otit to evaluate hot air oven drying method for better quality of dried Dutch rose flowers. Drying flowers in hot air oven at 40°C with silica gel were more acceptable for colour (3,48), appearance (3.50) and texture (3.23). Quality parameters such as colour (3.08), appearance (2.95) and texture -(2.69) were superior in the flowers of cv. Lambada dried by embedding in silica gel. Among interaction effects between cultivars and temperature levels, flowers of Lambada dried at 40°C were more acceptable for colour (2.51), appearance (252) and texture (£38). Embedded drying in silica gel at 30°C took maximum number of days (88.34 h) for drying while non-embedded drying at 50°C required least time (36.32 h).