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Shallot, Allium ascalonicum / Liliaceae (Alliaceae)
Postharvest Atmosphere Management
After their harvesting, shallots must be dried so as to withstand the storage in satisfying conditions. This process may be carried out in the field or with artificial means, by using forced air at ambient temperatures or heated up at 30-35ºC. When the process has finished, the content of moisture in the produce must be reduced to 10%, which is equivalent to a loss of weight of 5 or 10% compared with the shallots that have just been harvested.

Shallots are traditionally kept in bunches hung in a ventilated place. If we use forced ventilation systems along with the drying in the warehouse, we lengthen the period of conservation. If we want to store them for even more time we must cool them, maintaining a temperature between 0 and 1ºC and relative humidity between 85 and 90%.

Shallots can be ionised with gamma rays as they do with onions, with doses between 0.01 and 0,05kg, thus inhibiting the possible bearing of buds. Nevertheless, this method is not used at commercial level.
Distribution
Shallots must be transported at temperatures close to 0ºC and relative humidity between 65 and 75%. They must not be transported in mixed loads, since they give off their smell to the remaining produce.

Ventilation must be appropriate during the transport. For this purpose they use ventilated containers in the boats. When they are transported in pallets there must be a good distribution of through them.

The distribution must be carried out at temperatures between 5 and 20ºC, with average moisture and ventilation.
Postharvest Problems
During the storage, shallots may suffer from damages caused by diseases of fungi and bacteria. Among the fungi diseases stand out the Botrytis cinerea or Sclerotinia cepivorum and among the bacteria we find some of the genus Erwinia or Pseudomonas.

The most important diseases are gray rot, white rot and soft rot.

The gray rot is caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea. This disease is characterized by a wet rot, on which it develops a gray down, and by a characteristic smell. This rot spreads inside the tissues, that dry up.

The white rot is caused by another fungus, Sclerotinia cepivorum. The plants affected by this disease show a white colour down with black and hard matter of 1-2mm of diameter.

The soft rots have a bacterial origin. They may be caused by the genus Erwinia or Pseudomonas. The fruit shows soft tissues with a wet rot gives off a foul smelling. These pathogens make use of the wounds occurred during the harvesting or in processes of drying that were insufficient.
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