Quality characteristics of dehydrated onions as affected by storage conditions and packaging material

The study was conducted on three varieties of onions to And out the varietal effect on the quality characteristics of the dehydrated onions during storage in different conditions and different packaging materials. The quality characteristics studied were pyruvic acid concentration, colour and moisture content for each of the three varieties i.e. PBW-1, Punjab Naroya and PRO-6. The dehydrated onions obtained after drying at constant temperature of 60°C were stored for a period of 10 months. Two types of packaging material i.e. laminated aluminum foil (LAF) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) of thickness 50 mm were used for packaging the dehydrated onions. The samples under study were stored under the following two conditions i.e. ambient temperature (room temperature) and refrigerated conditions (5 to 7°C). the pungency retention per cent was the highest in variety PRO-6 followed by variety PBW-1 and it was more in refrigerated condition as compared to ambient conditions. Also the pungency retention per cent was more in the samples packed in laminated aluminium foil as compared to those packed in HDPE. The total colour difference ΔE values were lower in samples stored under refrigerated conditions. The quality in respect of colour change was better n laminated foil packaging than HDPE bags.