• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Agricultural Machinery Conference
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• 1996.06c
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• pp.746-754
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• 1996

Grading and sorting fresh cut flowers are time consuming process. In Korea, cut flowers are sorted mostly by human inspection due to the lack of adequate machinery. In this paper, quality evaluation factors of cut flowers are discussed, and types of sorting machines existing in the market are introduced . Aspects of computer image processing in evaluation the quality of cut flowers are also discussed.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.233-239
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• 2019

This study was conducted in order to predict the vase life of cut lily 'Woori Tower' flowers using a non-destructive thermal imaging technique. It was found that the temperature of cut lily flowers was maintained at 20℃ and was slightly lower than the air temperature until they bloomed. On the 11th day, when flowers bloomed, the temperature of leaves and flowers was measured to be 18.75±0.38℃ and 19.23±0.32℃ respectively, and their difference with ambient temperature was over 3℃. The flower temperature increased slightly when the vase life of cut lily flowers ended, and the temperature difference between the air and leaf temperature (1.77℃) and between the air and flower temperature (1.39℃) got smaller. No visible aging symptom was observed, but it was found that the temperature had risen due to water losses and less functional stomata. The vase life of cut lily flowers can be predicted based on changes in temperature and it will be also possible to predict the potential quality and vase life of cut flowers before harvesting them in greenhouses.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.171-178
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• 2020

The present study was conducted to determine the effects of electron beam irradiation on the postharvest quality of cut flowers. Cut flowers were irradiated with electron beam at 100, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1,000, and 2,000 Gy with a 10 MeV linear electron beam accelerator to evaluate their irradiation tolerance. Postharvest quality was determined by monitoring fresh weight loss, flower longevity, flower diameter, flowering rate, visual quality of flowers and leaves, and chlorophyll content. Cut flowers showed a radiation-induced damage with increasing the irradiation dose. Flower longevity and fresh weight of cut flowers decreased when the irradiation dose was increased. Flower bud opening was also inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. The effective irradiation doses for 10% reduction of postharvest quality (ED₁₀) values were 144.4, 451.6, and 841.2 Gy in the 'Medusa' lily, 'Montezuma' carnation, and 'Rosina White' eustoma, respectively. Although tolerance of cut flowers to electron beam irradiation vary according to species, cultivars, or maturity stage conditions, it is conceivable that 'Montezuma' carnation and 'Rosina White' eustoma could be tolerated and maintained overall postharvest quality up to 400 Gy, the generic irradiation dose approved by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) for postharvest phytosanitary treatments.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.583-591
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• 2019

This study was conducted to examine the effects of wet storage solution, transport period and temperature on vase life and quality of cut flowers in standard chrysanthemum 'Jinba'. Immediately after transport, the fresh weight and flower diameter of cut flowers did not show a difference according to wet storage solutions regardless of the transport period, but as the transport period increased, the fresh weight and flower diameter increased. The flower bud stage at harvest was maintained due to the small changes in flower diameter, and the freshness of leaves was better when transported at 5℃ than at 25℃. When transported at 25℃, the longer the transport period, the lower the quality of cut flowers as some petals opened up and showed early flowering after transport. In preservative solutions, quality of cut flowers transported at 25℃ was lower than that at 5℃ due to fresh weight and diameter according to the longer transport period. The vase life of cut flowers was 1.0 day, 0.8 day, and 7.3 days longer when transported for 3, 5, and 7 days respectively at 5℃ than at 25℃. The quality of cut flowers was better due to increase in fresh weight and flower diameter, as well as vase life in wet storage solutions of ClO₂ and Chrysal OVB than in tap water, regardless of transport period and temperature. There was no difference in fresh weight and vase life between ClO₂ and Chrysal OVB, but flower diameter was greater in ClO₂ than in Chrysal OVB. Therefore, for long-term transport of cut standard chrysanthemum 'Jinba', wet storage transport in ClO₂ at 5℃ was found effective in maintaining the quality and vase life of cut flowers.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.231-238
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• 2003

Rose and chrysanthemum are the most popular flowers in Korean floriculture. Sorting flowers is a labor intensive operation in cultivation of the cut flowers and needed to be mechanized. Machine vision is one of the promising solutions for this purpose. This study was carried out to develop hardware and software of a cut flower sorting system using machine vision and to test its performance. Results of this study were summarized as following; 1. Length of the cut flower measured by the machine vision system showed a good correlation with actual length of the flower at a level of the coefficients of determination (R$^2$) of 0.9948 and 0.9993 for rose and chrysanthemum respectively and average measurement errors of the system were about 2% and 1% of the shortest length of the sample flowers. The experimental result showed that the machine vision system could be used successfully to measure length of the cut flowers. 2. Stem diameter of the cut flowers measured by the machine vision system showed a correlation with actual diameter at the coefficients of determination (R$^2$) of 0.8429 and 0.9380 for rose and chrysanthemum respectively and average measurement errors of the system were about 15% and 7.5% of the shortest diameter of the sample flowers which could be a serious source of error in grading operation. It was recommended that the error rate should be considered to set up grading conditions of each class of the cut flowers. 3. Bud maturity of 20 flowers each judged using the machine vision system showed a coincidence with the judgement by inspectors at ranges of 80%∼85% and 85%∼90% for rose and chrysanthemum respectively. Performance of the machine vision system to judge bud maturity could be improved through setting up more precise criteria to judge the maturity with more samples of the flowers. 4. Quality of flower judged by stem curvature using the machine vision system showed a coincidence with the judgement by inspectors at 90% for good and 85% for bad flowers of both rose and chrysanthemum. The levels of coincidence was considered as that the machine vision system used was an acceptable system to judge the quality of flower by stem curvature.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.32-41
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• 2002

To prolong freshness and to reduce a decay rate of cut flowers during storage and distribution, a new packaging paper was developed with grapefruit seed extracts(GFSE) as a natural microorganism control agent. The GFSE was fractionated in order to identify antibiotic fractions by HPLC equipped with C18-reverse phase column chromatography. Among the active fractions, three ones were identified as 1-chloro-2-methyl-benzene (ο-toluene), N, N-dimethyl-benzenemethaneamine, and 1-〔2-(2-ethylethoxy)ethoxy〕-4-(1,1,3,3- tetra methyl)-benzene, while the other three remained unidentified. The GFSE-added paper displayed an effective inhibitory activity against putrefactive bacteria and fungi which were involved in the decay of flowers. Despite excellent antimicrobial acts of the GFSE-treated packaging paper, it was not possible to prevent the cut flowers from being dehydrated during storage, which led to the reduction of their fresh weight. However, additional treatment for giving water- repellency property to the GFSE-treated paper decreased a reduction rate of the fresh weight up to around 50% compared to the only GFSE-treated one.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2017

In order to determine the relationship between water content and flower qualities of oriental hybrid lily cv. 'Siberia' cut flower, flowers were subjected to dry and cold storage at $5^{\circ}C$ for 3, 6, and 12 days and subsequently exposed to ambient temperature ($26^{\circ}C$) in bottles with water for up to 16 days. Flowers stored at $22^{\circ}C$ in dry condition for 3 days were used as the control. Changes in fresh weight, moisture content, water balance, flowering stages, osmolality and vase life of cut flowers were observed. Flowers treated with cold and dry storage had higher moisture content compared to control sample. However, this trend was evident only for 3-day cold and dry stored sample during the whole storage period. The fresh weight of cut flowers increased gradually when the samples were transferred to ambient temperature in water bottles and then declined steadily before reaching the peak in between 6-8 days of vase life. However, the changes of fresh weight of control sample were substantially faster than samples pre-treated with cold and dry storage. This was also correlated with the water balance of cut flower as it reached the minus (-) value in 6-8 days of vase life at ambient temperature. Cut lily flowers showed high osmolality values corresponding with the duration of dry storage regardless of low or higher temperature. However, osmolality had no effect on vase life since flower stem absorbed water rapidly at the end of dry storage period. Our vase life results suggest that cold and dry storage of lily cut flowers for a certain period could ensure longer vase life at ambient temperature. It was observed that prolonging the storage period at cold and dry condition for more than a week significantly increased bud abortion, reduced longevity of flowers and reduced the vase life of cut flowers. On the other hand, the shorter cold and dry storage treatment delayed the bud opening and senescence of the flowers, thus, slowering the normal maturation and aging. Results indicated that dry and cold storage at $5^{\circ}C$ for 3 days was effective in maintaining and preserving overall quality and vase life at ambient condition of oriental hybrid lily cut flowers.

• FLOWER RESEARCH JOURNAL
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2011

This experiment was conducted to improve postharvest quality and extended vase life of Korean native Aster koraiensis Nakai for use as cut flowers. Aster koraiensis Nakai cut flowers were treated with various pretreatment and holding solution. Postharvest pretreatment with 3% sucrose + $200mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ HQC + $50mg{\cdot}L^{-1}\;AgNO_3$ + $50mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ BA and 3% sucrose + $200mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ HQC + $50mg{\cdot}L^{-1}\;AgNO_3$ + $150mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ citric acid for 16 hours extended vase life of cut Aster koraiensis Nakai flowers by 1.4 times as compared with the control (distilled water). Holding solution of 3% sucrose + $200mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ HQC + $50mg{\cdot}L^{-1}\;AgNO_3$ + $50mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ BA and 3% sucrose + $200mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ HQC + $50mg{\cdot}L^{-1}\;AgNO_3$ + $150mg{\cdot}L^{-1}\;GA_3$ extended vase life of cut Aster koraiensis Nakai flowers by1.6 and 1.7 times as compared with control (distilled water). Aster koraiensis Nakai.flowers held in this preservative solution increased fresh weight and were maintained positive water balance for a long vase period. It was suggested that the vase life of cut Aster koraiensis Nakai flowers was closely related to fresh weight and water balance of the cut flower.

• Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 2000

Quality sorting of cut flowers is very essential to increase the value of products. There are many factors that determine the quality of cut flowers such as length, thickness, and straightness of stem, and color and maturity of bud. Among these factors, the straightness of stem and the maturity of bud are generally considered to be more difficult to evaluate. A prototype grading and sorting machine for cut flowers was developed and tested for a rose variety. The machine consisted of a chain-drive feed mechanism, a pneumatic discharge system, and a grading system utilizing color image processing and neural network. Artificial neural network algorithm was utilized to grade cut roses based on the straightness of stem and maturity of bud. Test results showed 89% agreement with human expert for the straightness of stem and 90% agreement for the maturity of bud. Average processing time for evaluating straightness of the stem and maturity of the bud were 1.01 and 0.44 second, respectively. Application of neural network eliminated difficulties in determining criteria of each grade category while maintaining similar level of classification error.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.718-724
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• 2012

Sugars play important roles in petal senescence of cut flowers. In the Expt. 1 of this study, the effects of different concentrations of glucose (60, 90, and $120g{\cdot}L^{-1}$) and sucrose (30, 60, and $90g{\cdot}L^{-1}$) application on the vase life, rate of flower diameter increase, rate of flower weight increase and ethylene production of cut tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa 'Luoyang Hong') were evaluated. At the earlier stage, treatments of different concentrations of glucose and sucrose all retarded the process of flower opening and inhibited the increase of flower diameter and weight, while senescence of flowers fed with different concentrations of glucose was delayed at later stage. Flowers treated with $90g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ glucose displayed the longest vase life, which showed significant difference (P < 0.05) from those of flowers with the control and sucrose treatments. All treatments with glucose or sucrose not only retarded the decrease of flower diameter and weight, but also suppressed the ethylene production at the earlier stage and delayed the peak of ethylene evolution. In order to study the effect of exogenous sugar on the postharvest response of cut tree peony to ethylene, Expt. 2 was conducted. Cut flowers were treated with $90g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ glucose for 4 hours before (GE) or after (EG) exposed to $10{\mu}L{\cdot}L^{-1}$ ethylene for 4 hours. Generally, the opening process of flowers with GE and EG treatments was similar to that of the control, however GE treatment delayed flower senescence. Both GE and EG treatments improved flower diameter and weight, and GE treatment delayed the time of flower weight decrease. Besides, GE delayed climacteric ethylene evolution for 8 hours. All above suggest that exogenous sugars delay tree peony 'Luoyang Hong' cut flower senescence and extend flower vase life through their roles in the decrease of water loss and the suppression of sensitivity to ethylene and ethylene production.