Curing of onion: A review

Onion is one of the important vegetable crops daily consumed in India. In India, it is produced in three crop seasons (kharif, late kharif and rabi). For year round supply of onion in the market, it is imperative to store the onion. Though onion is semi perishable in nature, losses occur during storage in the form of physiological weight loss, rotting and sprouting. The losses depend on the type of variety, pre-and post-harvest management practices and storage conditions. Curing is one of the most important post-harvest management practices that is required for long term storage of onion with minimum losses. Curing can be done naturally on the field or artificially by using hot air. During curing physiological weight loss occurs to certain extent, however proper curing helps in improving storage life of onion by reducing post-harvest losses that occur due to physiological weight loss, rotting and sprouting.