Scottish Firm Freezing Rosebuds For Export

Press, Volume C, Issue 29503, 3 May 1961, Page 8

Scottish Firm Freezing Rosebuds For Export

A frozen food fiwn in Inverness, Scotland, i» planning to send frozen roses and white heather to Scottish societies in the Commonwealth. The managing director of the company (Mr G. Thornton) has adapted- a special flash-freezing technique to preserve rosebuds and fresh heather in deep-freeze packs. The idea was first suggested by a New Zealander, Mr I. Cameron, of Wairarapa. some years ago. when he visited one of the factories, owned by the firm, to see how venison and mountain hares were processed. The company, which is a big exporter of scampi (a variety of prawn) and fruit, has been experimenting for a year with the new process. and large firms in Western Germany and the United States are interested At the start of the process the rosebuds, or firm bell heather, are placed in special plastic vacuum containers and inserted in a deep-freeze unit The flashfreezing technique is then applied, to bring the containers to a very tow temperature. The containers are

subsequently raised gradually to a higher specific temperature, then placed in large freeze-packs for export. Mr. Thornton emphasised that only certain varieties of roses can be flash-frozen. Heather is suitable because of its low moisture content, and so are certain woodystemmed plants. This new process shows great promise because the preserved flowers do not disintegrate. During his experiment, Mr Thornton kept rosebuds deep frozen for up to six months. The buds were then carefully and slowly “thawed-out,” and burst into bloom within three or four days of being placed in water.