From long‑distance transport to chemical preservatives, most cut flowers come with a hidden environmental cost – something a new Griffith University experiment aims to rethink.
Griffith researchers used atmospheric plasma to extend the life of cut flowers, building on existing work in agriculture, seed treatment and food preservation.
The team used three sets of flowers – roses, gerberas and dahlias – and separated them into five different test groups, ranging from no treatment to full treatment with atmospheric plasma, and monitored them over a two-week period.
At the end of the experiment, the team found the plasma-treated flower bunches had largely maintained their colour and freshness.
“Our exploration to discover whether atmospheric plasma – a technology already used in medicine and agriculture – could extend the life of cut flowers without chemicals has shown positive results,” Dr Maksym Rybachuk said.
“Most cut flowers sold in Australia are imported and chemically treated, creating environmental and supply‑chain impacts; this research explores a cleaner, chemical-free alternative to traditional flower preservatives, offering a more sustainable approach.”
Dr Maksym Rybachuk
Plasma is an energised state of gas that can neutralise bacteria and pathogens without chemicals, already used in medicine and agriculture.
While plasma has been studied for wound treatment, seed germination and food preservation, this was one of the first applications focused on cut flowers.
The work is highly interdisciplinary involving physics, engineering and biological sciences, and included an international postgraduate researcher from Germany, Sophia Gurevich, under the guidance of Dr Rybachuk and Dr Nathan Garland from Griffith’s Queensland Quantum and Advanced Technologies Research Institute (QUATRI).
“The flowers used in the experiment were sourced locally and untreated, and were then exposed to plasma, flower food, or plain water as controls,” Dr Garland said.
“We then monitored the changes daily, including weight loss, water uptake, colour and physical decline.
“It was wonderful to see the flower integrity of the plasma-treated bunches maintained at the end of the experiment.”
Following this initial success, the team is hopeful of expanding the project into native species, seeds and other delicate biological materials, and providing a chemical-free alternative for flower preservation for the floristry industry.
