Post Harvest Management

and Value Addition of Onion

Dr. R. T. Patil
Director,
Central Institute of Post Harvest
Engineering and Technology,

Introduction
The annual average world production is
at around 72 million metric tones.
China is the leading producer and the
other major onion producing countries
are India, United States, United Arab
Republic, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil,
Bulgaria, Spain, and Italy.
In
the
international
trade,
these
countries play an important role in
exporting the onions contributing 74.6%
of the total export (FAO 2008).

Characteristics
Onion is a short term crop with less
pay-back period.
Onion is highly perishable and
therefore high post harvest losses
occur during transportation and
storage.
Onion are also grown in large quantity
in developed countries and they have
better quality and longer storage life

Production &
Utilisation

Onion (Allium cepa) is an important

export-oriented crop of our country.
Both immature and mature bulbs are used
as vegetable and condiment.
The cultivation of onion is done at different
times throughout the year in different
parts of the country.
The crop comes to the market three times
in a year Rainy Kharif 20%, Late little rainy
Kharif 20% and Rabi 60% (April-May)

Nutritional and Medicinal

Importance
Onions (Allium cepa L.) are grown as
vegetable as well as spice.
They are highly valued for their flavour and
for their nutritional value in supplying
minor constituents such as minerals and
trace elements.
It contains vitamin B and a trace of vitamin
C and also traces of iron and calcium.
The outstanding characteristic of onion is
its pungency, which is due to a volatile oil
known as allyl-propyl disulphide.

Medicinal Effects
Onion can lower blood lipids and prevent
hardening of arteries.
It contains selenium that can induce the human
body to release large amounts of glutathione
which lowers the occurrence of cancer.
Onion flavonoids have antidiabetic, antiaging,
and bacterial-inhibition effects.
Presence of several sulphur compounds makes it
antiseptic. Onion paste is reported to be
effective for external applications in case of
insect bites.
Onion is said to possess stimulant, diuretic and
expectorant properties and hence useful in
flatulence and dysentery.
High amounts of sulphur in onions make them
particularly effective in regenerating hair follicles
and stimulating hair regrowth

Pre-harvest
Operations

The post-harvest technology combined with preharvest factors determine the shelf-life.
Restriction on use of excessive and delayed
nitrogen application (not exceeding 100 kg/ha
under normal fertility condition and application of
N in 2-3 splits within 60 days of transplanting),
use of ammonium sulphate instead of urea for top
dressing, more use of organic manures to fulfill
nutritional requirement, use of vermicompost,
neem cake etc. have also showed encouraging
results.
Similarly last irrigation given 10-15 days before
harvesting reduces microbial losses in stored
onions compared to withholding of irrigation
before five days.

Pre-harvest Sprays
Pre-harvest pesticides sprays of 0.02%
streptocyclin and 0.1% carbendazim ten
days before harvesting.
Application of thiophanate methyl @ 0.1% +
streptocyclin or klorocin @ 0.2% + ekalux @
0.25% immediately after neck cut and
combined with field and shade curing is
promising under North Indian conditions
Use of maleic hydrazide @ 2000-3000 ppm
75 days after planting for kharif onions and
@ 2500 ppm combined with 0.1%
carbendazim
spray
10
days
before
harvesting in rabi onions gives better post
harvest storage.

Harvesting
Stage of harvesting also determines
the shelf-life of onions
Storage losses at optimum maturity
are normally lower than those
harvested before the tops collapse.
Harvesting one week after 50%
neckfall and field curing by windrow
method for 3-5 days till foliage turn
yellow is recommended.

Curing
Single most important post-harvest treatment required for
the long storage .
Curing is a drying process intended to dry off the necks and
outer scale leaves of the bulbs to prevent the loss of
moisture and the attack by decay during storage.
The essentials for curing are heat and good ventilation,
preferably with low humidity.
Shade curing for 10 days is optimum to eliminate the
chances of microbial infection in storage.
Curing of kharif onions in sun or solar dryer with foliage and
storage with dried foliage is better
Curing in perforated crates with forced air circulation is
recommended for rabi onions.
Bulbs cured artificially for 16-20 h were ready for market or
further storage compared to 8 10 days (240 h) in
traditional sun curing (Centre of AICRP on Post Harvest
Technology).
Artificially cured bulbs could be stored at ambient conditions
for 30 days with a maximum weight loss of about 10.5%

Grading
The outer dry scales usually rub off
during the grading process, giving the
onions a better appearance for market.
It has been experienced that if storage
is arranged after proper sorting and
grading losses in storage are reduced.
For local market the onions are graded
based on their size.
Extra large onion (>6 cm dia.)
Medium (4-6 cm dia.)
Small (2-4 cm dia.)

Irradiation to Improve
Shelf-life

Exposure of onion bulbs after harvesting

with 60-90 Gy inhibit their sprouting
regardless
of
crop
season,
environmental condition and type of
storage.
However, to reduce the microbial and
other losses, combined use of irradiation
with improved storage and providing the
irradiation facilities at production level
may be considered.

Characteristics of Good
Onion

be reasonably uniform in shape, size colour

and pungency of the variety /type
be mature, solid in feel, reasonably firm with
tough clinging skins.
be throughout cured and dried.
be free from dust and other foreign material.
be free from defective, diseased, decayed
and damaged bulbs caused by seed stems,
tops, moisture, dry sun scald burn, sprouting,
mechanical or other injuries and staining.
be free from moulds, soft rot and insect
attack.
% of seed stem or bolted bulbs shall not
exceed 20% in Nasik kharif onions.

Graders for Onion

The drudgery of human
labour
involved
for
grading of onion has
been reduced by hand
operated as well as
motorized
onion
grader developed by
NRCOG, PUNE.
The cost of grading with
machine is around Rs.
26/t as compared to Rs.
80/t in hand grading.
The precision of grading
achieved by grader is
98% as against 50% in
hand grading.

Packaging
For safe handling, 40 kg open mesh jute
bags having 200-300 g weight should be
used in domestic market.
For export, common big onions are packed
in 5-25 kg size open mesh jute bags.
Bangalore Rose and multiplier onions are
packed for export in 14-15 kg wooden
baskets.
Nylon net bags, when used for packing
have resulted in less storage loss because
of good ventilation.

Handling
Bulbs intended for storage must
be free from cuts and handled
with extreme care.
Onions should not be dropped
on to non-resilient surface from
more than 6 feet height.
If onions are to be stacked after
packing in store or trucks, the
better height is 2-2.5 metres.

Storage
Onions should not be stored unless adequately dried either in
the field or by artificial means.
It is necessary to dry the neck tissue and outer scales until
they rustle when handled otherwise the bulbs will rot in
storage.
Sprouting in onion is controlled by temperature. The
temperature between 10-25C increases sprouting.
Rooting is influenced by relative humidity (RH). More the
relative humidity more is rooting.
Weight loss is more when temperature is above 35C.
Under ambient conditions the onions are stored at a
temperature of 30-35OC with RH of 65-70%.
In cold storage, temperature is maintained at 0-2C while the
RH is kept at 60-75%.
Onions are stored in these sheds by spreading them on dry and
damp proof floor or racks. Periodical turning of bulbs or
removal of rotten, damaged and sprouted bulbs should be
done.
Well-ventilated improved storage structures with racks or tiers
having two or three layers of bulbs would be desirable for
proper storage.

Good Storage
Practices
Construction of storage godown should on raised platform

Use of appropriate roofing material to prevent built up of high

temperature inside.
Increased centre height and more slope is better for air
circulation and preventing humid microclimate inside godown.
Bottom ventilation for free and faster air circulation to avoid
formation of hot and humid pockets between the onion layers.
Avoid direct sunlight on onion bulbs to reduce sunscald,
fading of colour and quality deterioration.
Restriction on width of each stack to 60-70 cm for cool humid
weather, 75-90 cm for mild and humid weather and 90-120
cm for mild and dry weather conditions
Restriction of stacking height to 100 cm for small and
multiplier onion and hot weather and 120 cm for mild weather
and for big onion to avoid pressure bruising.
Cubicles should be made instead of continuous stack leaving
sufficient space for ventilation from all the sides.
One cubic meter area of store accommodates about 750 kg
onions.

Mangalore tiled storage

Dehydration / Drying of
onions

The desirable traits for dehydration are white colored flesh, full
globe to tall global shape of bulbs with 5 to 6 cm in diameter,
solids content around 15%; \
After removing the tops, roots and outer skin onions are washed
thoroughly and then cut into slices 3-6 mm thick with a rotating
slicer or bread slicing machines.
After cutting onion slices are carefully washed. Blanching is not
practiced, as the onion loses its flavor.
The slices are dehydrated in a tray, cabinet, tunnel type or
conveyor belt type drier. The onions are dried when the ratio of
prepared raw material to drier product is about 9:1 (moisture
content about 5%).
Dehydrated onion has a storage life of about 12 months.
Care is taken during dehydration to insure minimal powder
production because of its low value.
Screening, grinding and packaging operations are carried out in
special dehumidified rooms (Below 30% RH ) because of
hygroscopic nature of the dried onions.
A batch of 50Kg sliced onion takes about 8-9 hours drying time
in tray drier and 16-18 sunshine hours in greenhouse drying. The
onions are then milled into sliced, large chopped, chopped,
ground, granulated and powdered onions.

Value Added Products

Onion salt is prepared by mixing 19 to 20% onion
powder with 78% free flowing pulverized refined
table salt and 1to 2% anti caking agent which
prevents water absorption, caking, etc.

Onion juice is also gaining popularity. It has fresh

characteristic flavour of onion because it is not
subjected to high temperature at which thiosulphates
(primary products associated with onion flavour)
dissociate resulting in cooked onion flavour.
Natural dye-The pink colored peel in the onion is
also an excellent natural dye. It gives fast colour
on cotton, silk and woolen fabrics.
Onion pickle-Peeling, Blanching for 5 minutes,
Filling blanched onions in a jar, Addition of salt,
Standing for 24-48 hours, Draining off water, Addition
of vinegar and spices and Storage

Poly house solar dryer for onion

CIPHET Process of
Mechanical
Dewatering
and
Drying
In drying main expense is the energy used to reduce moisture content

of onion.
As a rule of thumb, for each 1% reduction in feed moisture, the dryer
energy input can be reduced by up to 4% (Bureau of Energy Efficiency,
India 2004).
Process-The onions were washed, peeled and mechanically dewatered
prior to drying with centrifugal juicer.
Effect of dewatering on energy consumed and quality parameters like
pyruvic acid content, ascorbic acid content, sugar content, rehydration
ratio, non enzymatic browning and color change were evaluated.
Partial mechanical dewatering resulted in as high as 60.98 % less
consumption in energy than conventional method besides getting high
value products i.e. onion juice and onion powder.
The optimum combinations are 60% dewatering and 60-70 C
temperatures.
Onion juice was concentrated to 75% solids for increasing its shelf life.
Storage studies of onion powder showed that there has been no
significant loss in quality even after 2 months storage at room
temperature.

Website:
www.ciphet.in
Email-ciphet@sify.com
Ph. 0161-2308669