"Ethylene treatment considerably lengthens shelf life of onions"

Wiskerke Onions from Kruiningen has been keeping its onions in its own cooling cell using ethylene this season. "The results were a positive surprise", says Jaap Wiskerke. "The shelf life of the onions has been considerably lengthened. The hardness of the onion is also much better. And there is completely no signs of shoot formation. Our onions were sprayed with MH30. They were kept at 1 degree Celsius. Even the organic onions can be kept 4 to 6 weeks longer."

Wiskerke started the experiments in collaboration with Restrain. Restrain stops shoot formation by converting ethanol to ethylene gas. This gives potato and onions suppliers the possibility to use ethylene gas to keep their products for longer and without chemicals. "The onion 'breathes' less and this greatly lowers the ageing process", says Jaap.

"I can recommend all onion growers and sorting and packing stations to use ethylene. This helps the product, and we don't have to worry about the costs. They are on a level of around 1 cent per 1,000 tonnes of onions", says Jaap, who has undertaken a series of retention tests at his premisis.