| Popis: |
Granex onions were harvested during three seasons at three levels of maturity of either early, optimum or late, cured for three durations of either 24, 48, or 72 h and stored in an air-conditioned environment of either a high or low humidity under a common temperature. Storability was measured by the rate of decay of onions in storage. When stored in an air-conditioned room, sweet onions eventually decayed, but their rate of decay was influenced by the treatments. Overall storability: diminished more rapidly beyond 10 weeks than before 10 weeks; was higher for early harvested onions; was enhanced by 48 h of curing; and was enhanced by an environment of low humidity. Storability by harvest maturity: was not enhanced by curing beyond 24 h for late and 48 h for optimal harvest onions, but for early harvested onions storability was enhanced by curing as much as 72 h. Of all treatments, harvest maturity had the greatest influence upon storability. Even though onions of an early harvest maturity had a higher storability than other maturities of harvest, the onions had not reached their highest quality nor their maximum yield and so the optimal harvest maturity was a compromise between yield, quality and storability. |
