Potential of rosemary leaves and branches to enhance storage life of onion bulbs

Abstract

Although its importance as vegetable, a considerable amount of onion bulbs is lost in storage. That's why storage condition is one of the most important issues to maintain post-harvest quality. For this purpose, a factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design with two factors and three replicates was carried out. The factors were storage conditions of onion bulbs with five levels (4oC in the seed storage apparatus, 25 and 30oC without using rosemary leaves and branches in the incubator, and 25 and 30oC using rosemary leaves and branches in the incubator) and storage times with ten levels (10 consecutive weeks). The storage feedbacks of bulbs in terms of the weight loss (WL) and the average bud length (ABL) of bulbs were analyzed. The storage of bulbs at 25oC using rosemary fresh leaves and branches inside each bag of bulbs after 10 weeks resulted in the lowest weight loss and average bud length, and significantly controlled the post-harvest fungal rotting and improved the shelf life of bulbs. The findings of this study indicated the high potential of rosemary fresh leaves and branches, which can be considered as an alternative strategy to control post-harvest fungal rotting and to improve the storage life of bulbs considering its simplicity and efficacy in decreasing the storage cost, the weight loss and sprouting without causing any environmental toxicity.

Effect of rosemary, garlic, pepper and lemongrass extracts in postharvest of organic Brassica oleracea L. leaves

“…As in Peng et al (2016), there was no statistical variation for fresh weight loss between the control and the concentrations of 0.2 and 1% allicin. Bina et al (2016) observed a lower weight reduction in onions stored at 25 °C and 30 °C with rosemary branches and leaves when compared to storage for the same period and temperature conditions, without the rosemary branches and leaves. The application of garlic extract decreased the antioxidant activity and total phenolics ( Figure 1A) whereas for the pepper extract it was observed an increase in the antioxidant activity and total phenolics at concentrations of 5, 15, 20 and 25% ( Figure 1B), this behavior was similar to Cao et al (2009) with an increase of total phenolics during storage of Eriobotrya japonica when tested methyl jasmonate, an elicitor of plant defense.…”

“…In order to improve the defense and resistance of plants, studies involving the use of plant extracts have increased in recent years. The use of extracts of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), garlic (Allium sativum), pepper http://cpsjournal.org (Capsicum baccatum) and lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) have been tested for their ability to protect other cultures (Cruz et al 2013, Poonpaiboonpipat et al 2013, Peng et al 2015, Bina et al 2016.…”

Potato Sprout Inhibition and Tuber Quality after Post-Harvest Treatment with Rosemary (Rosmarinus Officinalis L.) Leaves and Branches

“…In a study on the essential oils of ten plants, 21 recommended that the essential oils could be a potential source of eco-friendly botanical fungicide, after long term and wide ranging trials to exhibit absolute fungi toxic activity up to 100% growth inhibition. Bina et al 24 reported that the application of rosemary fresh leaves and branches can improved the storage life of onions considering its simplicity and efficacy in decreasing the storage cost, the weight loss and sprouting without causing any environmental toxicity. Therefore, applying rosemary leaves and branches to reduce germination and potato weight, the fungal infection and decay is the most effective approach as compared to the recommended chemical sorirradiation storage in potato bulbs.…”