WINTER GARLIC BULB WEIGHT LOSS DURING STORAGE DEPENDS ON PROTECTIVE COATINGS

Abstract

Purpose. To justify elements of the post-harvest winter garlic processing technology that will increase storability and shelf life of garlic. The working hypothesis was based on the assumption that it is possible to use a modified paraffin-containing coating, which will increase the stability of garlic bulbs during storage. Methods. General scientific: 1. hypothesis method - drawing up experimental designs; 2. experimental method – designs of laboratory experiments; 3. methods of analysis and synthesis - drawing conclusions and summarizing, computational and analytical. Results. Covering bulbs with a mixture of 90% shellac (food additive, E904) + 10% aloe vera gel ensured a storage length of 145 days with the daily weight loss of 0.036%. 20% sunflower wax increased the storage length up to 142 days with the daily weight loss of 0.036%, while with paraffin coating the storage period was 100 days and the daily weight loss was 0.10%. It was established that the control specimens of garlic stored at reduced relative air humidity (RAH) (60– 70%) significantly lost their weight. The increase in RAH during storage reduced the weight loss of garlic bulbs to 8.2%, i.e. 2.5-fold. Covering garlic bulbs with a protective film reduced the weight loss by 4.6–5 times at RAH of 60–70%. Increasing RAH to 75–85% and 90–95% reduced it by 4.7–5.3 and 2.9–3.1 times, respectively. With similar daily weight loss in the experiments with 75% paraffin + 5% glycerin + 20% sunflower wax, with 90% shellac + 10% aloe vera gel, with 85% paraffin + 5% glycerin + 10% sunflower wax, with 65% paraffin + 5% glycerin + 30% sunflower wax (the daily weight loss was 0.036%, 0.036%, 0.044%, and 0.044%, respectively), the storage lengths were not equal. Bulb coatings extended the storage period by 25-45 days depending on coating composition. The longest storage (142–145 days) was achieved with 75% paraffin + 5% glycerin + 20% sunflower wax and with 90% shellac + 10% aloe vera gel (the daily weight loss was 0.036%). Conclusions. The effects of the protective coatings on the bulb weight amounted to 76.0%, while the RAH contribution was 12.0%, and the interaction of the studied factors accounted for 12.0%.