Commercial trials on irradiation preservation of onions under tropical conditions

The present studies for preservation and storage of life of onion on commercial scale using gamma irradiation are being carried out. According to the survey the price of onion varies during the year. The results of the previous two years studies revealed that irradiation with 0.1 KGy and subsequent storage at ambient conditions under the shade enhanced the marketable life of bulks upto about 6 months as compare to 2 months at low temperature storage. It was observed that sprouting was relatively faster and higher in the red variety than other variety. Irradiation treatment significantly decreased weight losses in both the varieties. The higher weight loss in un-irradiated onion was primarily the result of greater rate of evaporation in the sprouted bulks as compared to unsprouted (irradiate) onions. (orig./A.B.)