The main aim of this work was to study the effect of curing methods on the onion losses during storage. Onions were cured using four methods as follows: (a) field curing for 11 days (traditional), (b) solar drying for three days, (c) artificial curing (emergency curing) at 45-50 oC for 10 hours and (d) no curing. Onion losses at the end of curing process were determined for each method. The cured onions were stored at (a) room temperature (25-27 oC and 45-75% RH) and (b) low temperature (4-6 oC and 65-80% RH). The losses of onion were determined at intervals during the storage period. The results indicated that the highest losses (4 %) were recorded when the onion cured at the open field for 11 days, followed by solar drying treatment (2.95 %) and the lowest losses were 2% for the artificial curing treatment at the end of curing process. During storage, there were no significant differences in moisture losses for all treatments of curing under both storage conditions. The total losses recorded during storage period for the onion at room conditions were higher than those of cold storage conditions for all curing treatments. The highest total losses were recorded for no curing treatment, followed by solar curing treatment under room conditions storage, while the lowest losses were recorded for the field curing treatment. There was no onion sprouting until the end of experiment when onion was stored at room conditions, while by the second month, onion started to sprout under cold storage conditions and increased by the end of experiment. The highest sprouting percentage was recorded for the field curing treatment (19.17%). |
