Effect of storage on quality features of local onion landrace ‘Vatikiotiko’

Abstract

Abstract" Vatikiotiko" is a Greek landrace of Allium cepa L. of the Alliaceae family, cultivated only in the region ofVatika, in Lakonia prefecture as a short day onion. The dry bulbs are a quality product highly sought after in Greek market, sin ce this is the earliest onion that comes out during spring. However, so far the production is limited and the potential of this landrace is not full y developed. In the present study we examined the effect of storage at two temperatures (25± 1 and 5± 1 °C and 60-70% RH) on marketability and quali ty features of dry bulbs of"Vatikiotiko" landrace and "Si van F 1" wh ich is also cultivated in th e specific region. The experiments were carried out at the University ofThessaly, Greece durin g the period 20 14-2015. The quality features that were recorded during storage included fresh and dry weight of bulbs, fresh weight loss, color of tunic and flesh, nutritional value and mineral composition. The measurements were taken at regular intervals and the storage was completed when either bulbs had not marketable quality or sprouting occurred. So far the results have shown that "Vatikiotiko" onion can be stored for at least five months at 25± i °C, whereas at 5± 1 oc storage could be prolonged for almost 8 month s without significant marketability and quality loss, whereas for "Si van Fl" sprouting occurred after 5 and 6 months at 25± 1 and 5± 1 ac respectively. Therefore, the fact that "Vatikiotiko" landrace is a "storage" onion a llows for further exploitation in order to increase total production and yield, since the storaged product could cover the market needs that arise throughout the year, whereas breeding is needed in order to minimi ze the genetic variability of the landrace and increase uniformity of the fin al product.