Cool way to keep flowers fresh & new

If you want to preserve for life the rose your girlfriend gifted, you will soon be able do it.

National Botanical Research Institute has mastered a technology for preserving flowers and plant parts in their original form and colour for several years. The technology requires flowers to be dehydrated and dried under right conditions and encapsulated in an air-tight container.

"If there is no air and moisture, the flower will look fresh for up to 20 years," KS Pandey, a technician who has been involved in developing the technology, said.

"There is a big market for these flowers for decorative purposes in countries like Japan," he added.

This method retains their original shape, colour and size before dehydration, thus making them suitable raw materials for interior decoration.

To avoid shrinkage and other changes in the flower, the flowers and foliage are embedded carefully in either sand or silica gel in a container. The embedded material is then dried at 35-45 degree Celsius temperature for 48 to 72 hours.

Another laboratory under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology has developed a technology to produce a healthier version of edible rice bran oil. The technology involves use of an enzyme to refine oil so it retains its medicinal properties. The oil has a unique anti-oxidant called oryzanol which has anti-ageing, anti-wrinkling and anti-dandruff properties.