Effect of temperature and minimal processing on respiratory dynamics of green onions

The present study was conducted to assess the effect of temperature and minimal processing on the respiration rate of minimally processed green onion. The green onions were washed and minimally processed. The true density of the minimally processed samples was determined. The rates of respiration were determined at different temperatures viz 0, 5, 10 and 15 ºC using the closed system technique. The container headspace gaseous gaseous composition was measured in terms of oxygen and carbon dioxide concentration. The steady state rates of oxygen consumption for minimally processed green onion were 28.11, 41.75, 48.57 and 59.49 ml kg⁻¹h⁻¹at temperature 0, 5, 10 and 15ºC. The steady state O₂ consumption and CO₂ evolution rate increased by 48.54 and 53.89% respectively when temperature was increased from 0 to 5°C, 16.34 and 27.23% when temperature increased from 5 to 10°C whereas an increase of 22.47 and 27.52% was observed when temperature increased from 10 to 15°C.