'Amarante' garlic wiltness during storage in function of harvest time

Abstract

Garlic can be cultivated only during a especific period of the year, and due to climatic factors and its utilization as a condiment, it has an inelastic consumption. So conservation is necessary for constant supply. Time of harvesting is one of the factors that influence conservation. The purposes of this work were to study 'Amarante' garlic wilt during storage when harvested in diferent harvest dates and to determine the harvest time considering bulb dry matter accumulation. Garlic was cultivated in Núcleo Rural Rio Preto, Brasilia, DF, from 1992 April 20 to September 24. The experimental design was completely randomized, with six treatments and four repetitions. Treatments were harvest dates with intervals of one week. The caracteristics evaluated were fresh matter and dry matter of bulbs and leaves, and wiltness. This information is correlated with plant dry leaves percentage in plant at the time of harvest, in order to use it as an external parameter of harvest decision. The largest dry matter accumulation in bulbs occurs when 59.4% to 71.6% of leaves are dry, i.e., approximately 2/3 of dry leaves. During storage periods greater than 160 days at 25±2°C, garlic wilt was higher than 15%, the maximum limit allowed for the commercial type.