ONION QUALITY STANDARDS

Introduction

The onion, also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. Its close relatives include the garlic, scallion, shallot, leek, chive, and Chinese onion. Thescientific name of onions is Allium cepa.Bulb onions are planted and grown from seeds, transplants, or sets. Transplants are live seedlings, often bare rooted, and often sold in bundles of about 25 plants.

These Quality standards are designed to ensure that the onion  enterprises meet the minimum requirements to become an integral part of the market, whether export or local.Quality isn’t just about profits and loss or beating out a competitor. It’s about safety, delivering on a promise and meeting the very basics of customer expectations. But, by meeting quality standards, enterprises often reap better profits and reduce losses. Those that exceed quality standards stand out above their competitors and further their potential for profit and consumer loyalty. Therein rests the benefit of quality standards.

Today, quality assurance measures the standards that go into a product or service before it goes out to the public. Quality assurance uses auditors, sometimes independent and sometimes in-house, to evaluate the methods that go into making products and providing services. In this set up, the Commercial Village Trade Facilitators will help train and audit the farmer’s horticultural produce before reaching the market.

This module will help   achieve the following:

  1. Improve enterprises’ ability to deliver onion products that consistently keep up a high quality to the market hence customer satisfaction
  2. Enhance quality of onion products thereby helping the enterprises to reduce extra costs that rejection of produce comes with.

 

Common Standards

1.SCOPE OF THE STANDARD

Rwanda standard applies to onions of varieties (cultivars) grown from Allium cepa L. Cepa Group to be supplied to the consumer in the natural state and green onions with full leaves. Onions for industrial processing being excluded.

2.APPLICATION OF STANDARD

The standard is to define the quality requirements for fresh bulb onions after preparation and packaging. However, if applied at stages after point of sale or following export, produce may show in relation to the requirements of the standard:

i)a slight lack of freshness and turgidity

ii)a slight deterioration due to their development and their tendency to perish.

The holder/seller of produce may not display such produce or offer them for sale, or deliver or market them in any manner other than in conformity with this standard. The holder/seller shall be responsible for observing such conformity

 

Terms And Definitions

Under the terms and definitionsthe following shall apply

  1. Clean: free from dirt, dust, insect, stains or other foreign substances and material
  2. Decay: soft or dry rot
  3. Firm: The onion, which may yield slightly too moderate finger pressure
  4. Damage: any defect or injury, which affects the appearance or storage quality of the onions
  5. Doubles: onions, which have developed more than one distinct bulb, joined only at the base, whether the outer skin is broken or otherwise
  6. Size the maximum diameter of the bulb along the equatorial section
  7. Seed stem the bulb heart, which has become misshapen and hollow through the center stem deforming the onion
  8. Malshaped bulbsbulbs with seed stems with abnormal swelling 
  9. Intact (Outer Skin Included) Onions which have not suffered any mutilation during growth or at the time of pulling, drying, removing the stem, packing, handling or any other operations
  10. Sound onions which are free from any rot, disease and damage
  11. Sufficiently dry onions which are sufficiently firm and do not become soft or spongy to moderate finger pressure, the neck being dry.

 

Quality Requirements

The purpose of the standard is to define the quality requirements for onions after preparation and packaging.

a)MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

  • Intact
  • Sound; produce affected by rotting or deterioration such as to make it unfit for Consumption is excluded
  • Clean, practically free of any visible foreign matter
  • Fresh in appearance
  • Free from parchment (hard endoderm)
  • Practically free from pests
  • Practically free from damage caused by pests
  • Free of abnormal external moisture
  • Firm to withstand transportation and handling andarrive in satisfactory condition at the place of destination

b)   CLASSIFICATION

Onions can be classified into two main categories class I and class II. 

I.CLASS I

Onions in this class must be of good quality.  In shape and colour, they must be typical of the variety or commercial type. The bulbs must be:

  • firm and compact
  • free from externally visible shoots
  • free from swelling caused by abnormal vegetative development
  • Practically free of root tufts; however, for onions harvested before complete maturity, root tufts are allowed.

The following slight defects, however, may be allowed, provided these do not affect the general appearance of the produce, the quality, the keeping quality and presentation in the package:

  • A slight defect in shape
  • Slight defects in colouring
  • Light staining that does affect the outer skin, provided it does not cover more than one fifth of the bulb’s surface
  • Superficial cracks in and partial absence of the outer skins, provided the flesh is protected.

II.CLASS II

This class includes onions that do not qualify for inclusion in Class I but satisfy the minimum requirements specified above.

  • The bulbs must be reasonably firm. Ibijumba bigomba kuba bifunze ku buryo bwiza
  • The following defects may be allowed, provided the onions retain their essential characteristics as regards the quality, the keeping quality and presentation:
  • defects in shape
  • defects in colouring
  • traces due to rubbing
  • slight marking caused by parasites or disease
  • small healed cracks
  • slight healed bruising
  • root tufts ibisigazwa by' imizi

 The following are, permittedhowever:

  • staining which does not affect the last dried skin protecting the flesh, provided it does not cover more than half the surface of the bulb,
  • cracks in the outer skins and the absence of a part of the outer skins from not more than 1/3 of the surface of the bulb, provided the flesh remains intact

 

c)PROVISIONS CONCERNING TOLERANCES

  • Tolerances in respect of quality and size are allowed in each package for produce not satisfying the requirements of the class indicated.
  1. QUALITY TOLERANCES
  • Class I:10% by number or weight of onions not satisfying the requirements for the class, but meeting those for Class II or, exceptionally, coming within the tolerances for that class.
  •  
  • Class II:10% by number or weight of onions satisfying neither the requirements for the class nor the minimum requirements, excluding produce affected by rotting, or any other deterioration rendering it unfit for consumption.
  1. SIZE TOLERANCES
  • For all classes: 10% by number or weight of onions not conforming to the size identified, but with a diameter of not more than 20% below or above it.

d)  PROVISIONS CONCERNING PRESENTATION

  1.  UNIFORMITY
  • The contents of each package must be uniform and contain only onions of the same origin, variety, quality and size.The visible part of the contents of each package must be representative of the entire contents.
  1. CONTAMINANTS
  • Pesticide residues :the produce covered by this standard shall comply with the maximum residue limits for pesticides established by the codex alimentarius commission for this commodity
  • Other contaminants: The produce covered by this standard shall comply with the maximum levels of the general standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed (CODEX STAN 193-1995).
  1.  PRESENTATION

Onions may be presented: ibitunguru bigomba kugaragazwa

  • arranged in layers,
  • packed in bulk,
  • In ‘strings’ (of not less than 16 bulbs, with fully dried stems).
  1.   PACKAGING
  • Onions must be packed in such a way as to ensure proper protection of the produce. The materials used inside the package must be new, clean and of a quality such as to avoid causing any external or internal damage to the produce.  The use of materials and particularly of paper or stamps bearing trade specifications is allowed if the printing or labelling has been done with a non-toxic ink or glue.Packaging must be free from all foreign matter
  1. HYGIENE
  • It is recommended that the produce covered by the provisions of this Standard be prepared and handled in accordance with the appropriate sections of the General Principles of Food Hygiene
  • Ibicuruzwa byose birebwa n' ibi bipimo bigomba gutegurwa no gukorwamo hubahirijwe amabwiriza ibika byihariye by' amabwiriza rusange y' isuku y' ibiribwa.

e) PROVISIONS CONCERNING MARKING FOR EXPORT

  • Each package must bear the following particulars in letters grouped on the same side; legibly and indelibly marked and visible from the outside:

I.IDENTIFICATION

  • Packer and/or Dispatcher: Name and address or officially issued or accepted code mark.  However, in the case where a code mark is used, the reference “packer and/or dispatcher (or equivalent abbreviations)” has to be indicated in close connection with the code mark.

II. NATURE OF PRODUCE

  • Onions’, if the contents are not visible from the outside.

III.  ORIGINE OF PRODUCE

  • Country of origin, and optionally, district where grown or national, regional or local place name.

 IV. COMMERCIAL SPECIFICATION

  • class
  • size indicated by minimum and maximum diameters,
  • weight,

 

Conclusion

Quality assurance helps a company meet its clients’ demands and expectations. High quality builds trust with customers, which, in turn, makes the enterprises competitive in the market. It saves costs and fixes issues before problems become larger, and it helps to set and maintain quality standards by preventing problems to begin with. Investing in quality assurance is indispensable in many enterprises today. It is most effective when it’s in place from the start. When quality assurance is done right, it provides confidence, tests the product and lets enterprises market their products with few worries.

This module will therefore help the farmers to have knowledge on quality and standards required in processing and packaging onion to meet the market demand and improve income.