Rose Post harvest Storage | MAP Bag Guide | Biopac
Roses are one of the toughest postharvest challenges Life Pack handles. Unlike fruit or vegetables, success isn’t measured in days before spoilage — it’s measured in whether a bud opens fully, stays symmetrical, and holds its colour through a cold chain, an airport, and a customer’s vase. The biggest threat isn’t ethylene alone. It’s Botrytis (grey mould), a cold-loving fungus that thrives in exactly the high-humidity conditions roses need to stay hydrated.
Ethylene, Botrytis, and Vase Life
Cut roses are moderately ethylene-sensitive — exposure accelerates petal wilting, bent neck, and premature “bluing” of red varieties. But in cold storage, the more immediate risk is moisture management. Roses need 90–95% relative humidity to prevent wilting and stem dehydration, yet that same humidity, combined with cold temperatures (2–4°C) and long transit times, is the ideal breeding ground for Botrytis spores already present on the flower at harvest. Getting both right — high humidity without excess free moisture, and ethylene held low — is the balance every rose exporter is chasing.
What the Jaroma Trial Showed
Biopac ran an extended storage trial with Jaroma Roses in Colombia across three varieties — Freedom (red), Vendela (white), and Pink Floyd (hot pink) — comparing bulk-packed and bouquet-packed stems inside Life Pack MAP bags. Fifty stems of each variety were stored at 2–4°C, with inspections at 15 days, a simulated 4-day air-freight journey, and a full vase-life review at 39 days.
The results varied meaningfully by variety. Freedom came through cleanest, with no Botrytis detected at the 15-day mark and only minor deterioration by day 39. Vendela and Pink Floyd showed some Botrytis incidence by the final review — most notably Pink Floyd in bulk, where several flowers were affected by day 39 — while foliage on both remained green and flowers reached full, attractive bloom. Across all three varieties, roses stored in bouquet form generally showed less Botrytis than the same variety stored in bulk, likely due to reduced stem-to-stem contact and moisture pooling.
Importantly, none of the varieties failed the trial — even the higher-Botrytis batches reached full vase life at 39 days with saleable, fully open blooms. The trial pointed to variety-specific Botrytis susceptibility as the main variable to manage, rather than a limitation of the bag itself.
What This Means for Packaging
The Life Pack MAP bag’s role in this result is humidity control without condensation. By maintaining a stable 90–95% humidity envelope, the bag keeps stems hydrated and turgid throughout the cold chain and simulated transit, while its gas modification slows the ethylene-driven ageing that causes bent neck and early petal drop. Bouquet-form packing appears to compound this benefit — tighter bunching combined with the bag’s humidity buffer left less opportunity for the free moisture that Botrytis needs to establish.
The Practical Takeaway
For growers and exporters, the trial supports two practical decisions: pack roses in bouquet form where the market allows it, and treat variety selection as part of the postharvest plan, not just the sales one — some varieties (like Freedom in this trial) simply carry lower inherent Botrytis risk than others. Life Pack MAP bags support both approaches by giving growers a stable humidity and gas environment to work within, regardless of variety.
Download the full Jaroma Roses trial report (PDF)
Related: Rose MAP Bag specifications
