Storage tolerance of five short-day onion cultivars during a 12-week period

Abstract

The number of damaged bulbs of five short-day onion (Allium cepa L.) cultivars was determined during 12 weeks in storage at art average mean room temperature of 27.4˚C approximately 80% relative humidity. Percentage of total solids before storage ranged from 6.84% to 8.06% at the beginning of the study. Bulbs with symptoms of bacterial soft rot (Erwinia carotovora), black mold rot (Aspergillus niger) or sprouted were recorded and discarded weekly. At the end of the 12-week storage period, bacterial soft rot was the most damaging condition, followed by black mold rot. The cumulative percentage of total bulbs discarded was greater in the deep, flat shaped Granex 33 cultivar (16.14%). This percentage was significantly higher than that for bulbs discarded among cultivars Texas Grano 502 (6.16%), Granex 429 (3.89%), Texas Grano 1025Y (3.13%), and Ringer Grano (2.44%). There were no significant differences among these four cultivars.