FloraLife Bouquet Wrap Effective at Maintaining Freshness at High Temperatures

Introduction

Wrapping of bouquet stem ends in a water holding material prior to e-commerce shipping is often done to ensure that the bouquet arrives at its final destination looking fresh and hydrated. We wanted to evaluate the effects of FloraLife® Bouquet Wrap on fresh weight (FWT) loss, vase solution uptake, and vase life during simulated 48-hour shipping at two different temperatures 20C (68F) or 30C (86F).

Methods

‘Freedom’, ‘Pink Floyd’, ‘Orange Crush’, and ‘Deep Purple’ roses were received from a Colombian grower. Flowers were air-freighted to Miami and dry-shipped on refrigerated truck to a local wholesaler. Flower bunches were randomized into 4 treatment groups of 9 stems of each cultivar. For each treatment, flowers were assembled into three mixed rose bouquets containing 3 stems of each cultivar and placed in standard plastic bouquet sleeves. Bouquets were hydrated in tap water overnight in the flower cooler at 3C (37F) and fresh weights recorded. FloraLife® Bouquet Wrap treatments were applied, and flowers were dry packed in shipping boxes and placed in darkness in separate rooms at the two simulated shipping temperatures:

1. Control – 48-hour simulated shipping at 20C (68F)
2. Control – 48-hour simulated shipping at 30C (86F)
3. FloraLife® Bouquet Wrap – 48-hour simulated shipping at 20C (68F)
4. FloraLife® Bouquet Wrap – 48-hour simulated shipping at 30C (86F)

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