Detailed Guide to Lily Preservation Technology: Store Them This Way for Longer
After harvesting, lilies are prone to browning and rotting during storage and transport. At present, most post-harvest storage uses traditional methods, such as sand storage and cellar storage. Because traditional storage is hard to manage and temperature and humidity conditions are difficult to control, storage failures easily occur and cause relatively large losses. The following introduces the technology for preserving lilies using a "micro energy-saving cold storage + MA + preservative."
(1) Process flow
Harvest at the right time -> sort, remove stems and soil, trim off fibrous roots -> select bulbs -> preservative treatment -> air-dry -> put into boxes or baskets lined with preservative bags -> fully pre-cool in a -2-0°C cold storage + tie the opening -> place on shelves or stack in piles.
(2) Key operating points
The optimal temperature is -2-0°C, and the relative humidity is 85%-90%.
(1) Variety characteristics. Lilies have a 3-month dormancy period and are relatively tolerant of storage. Lilies mainly include Longya lily, Chuan lily, and others. Among them, the white, flat-spherical, tightly clasped, large, and sweet Chuan lily has good quality and is tolerant of storage. Lilies produced in northern and northwestern regions have better storage tolerance than lilies produced in the south.
(2) Harvesting. On the premise of not suffering cold (freezing) damage, lilies for storage should preferably be harvested late at the right time, generally in mid-to-late November. Do not irrigate in the 10 days before harvest. During harvesting, handle them carefully, gently remove the soil, prevent mechanical injury, and air-dry the surface of the lilies. Be careful not to expose them to direct sunlight.
(3) Preservative treatment. Blue mold rot is the most likely to occur during lily storage, so a preservative with strong inhibitory power against blue mold should be selected. Soak for 3-5 minutes in the special liquid preservative for fruits and vegetables developed by the National Engineering and Technology Research Center for Agricultural Product Preservation. After removing, air-dry directly or pre-cool and air-dry in a 0°C cold storage. This preservative can significantly inhibit the growth and reproduction of molds that cause lily rot and prevent rotting.
(4) Boxing. In paper boxes or baskets with preservative film, 5 kg per box is suitable. For long-term storage, it is preferable to use 0.03-0.04 mm PVC preservative film produced by the National Agricultural Product Preservation Center. This preservative film has the characteristics of high moisture permeability, anti-condensation, and suitable air permeability, and is suitable for the physiological characteristics of lilies. Vacuum small packaging with 0.04-0.06 mm PE or PVC can also be used. When the lily temperature cools to -2°C, tie the opening and stack in a pinwheel pattern.
(5) High temperature, mechanical injury, or prolonged exposure to air can easily cause the outer skin of lily bulbs to turn light purple and become scorched cloves, affecting edible value. Timely and appropriate packaging and sealing measures are needed to prevent this.
(6) Cold storage management. The micro energy-saving cold storage has advanced equipment, a high degree of automation, and is easy to manage. It occupies only 40-50 sq m, with a total investment of about 40,000 yuan, and can store 25 tons of lilies, with remarkable benefits, making it suitable for the current lily production situation in China. The storage temperature is maintained at -2°C-0°C, and humidity can be regulated through the preservative film without special measures.
(7) Storage period. With this technology, lilies can be kept fresh for 6-8 months.
(8) Transport and freshness preservation. For transporting freshly harvested lilies, the above process technology should preferably be used. After pre-cooling and boxing, they can be loaded directly into trucks for transport and sold on the market within 20 days. For transporting lilies during storage, in the early storage period they can be taken directly from the cold storage and transported by truck. In the later storage period, because storage tolerance declines, insulated trucks should preferably be used for transport.
At present, some people in production use vacuum packaging before transport @#@136@#@. If the temperature fluctuates too much, this method easily causes anaerobic respiration and carbon dioxide injury in lilies, leading to browning and spoilage. Therefore, this method is only suitable for short-term transport, timely sales, or cold-chain transport and sales systems, and is not suitable for long-distance transport and sales under normal-temperature conditions.