‘Vatikiotiko’ is a Greek landrace of Allium cepa L. of the Liliaceae family,
cultivated only in the region of Vatika, in Lakonia prefecture as a short day onion. The
dry bulbs are a quality product highly sought after in Greek market, since this is the
earliest onion that comes out during Spring. However, so far the production is limited
and the potential of this landrace is not fully developed. In the present study we
examined the effect of storage at two temperatures (23±1 and 5±1°C) and 60-70% RH
(relative humidity) on marketability and quality features of dry bulbs of ‘Vatikiotiko’
landrace and ‘Sivan F1’ which is also cultivated in the specific region. The experiments
were carried out at the University of Thessaly, Greece during the period 2014-2015.
The quality features that were recorded during storage included fresh weight loss,
bulb firmness, antioxidants and sugar’s composition. The measurements were taken
at regular intervals and the storage was completed when either bulbs had not
marketable quality or sprouting occurred. So far the results have shown that
‘Vatikiotiko’ onion can be stored for 7 months at both temperatures, whereas at 5±1°C
storage could be prolonged for almost 8 months without significant marketability and
quality loss. Similarly, ‘Sivan F1’ sprouting occurred after 5 and 6 months at 23±1 and
5±1°C, respectively. Therefore, the fact that ‘Vatikiotiko’ landrace is a storage onion
allows for further valorization in order to increase total production and yield, since
the stored product could cover the market needs that arise throughout the year,
whereas breeding is needed in order to minimize the genetic variability of the
landrace and increase uniformity of the final product.
