Skip to main content
Log in

Effects of bolting and flower stem removal on the growth and chemical qualities of onion bulbs

  • Research Report
  • Published:
Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 June 2016

Abstract

The growth of a flower stem (bolting) causes a decrease in yield and marketability in onion. We have examined the effects of bolting and of the removal of flower stems at different lengths on the growth and chemical qualities of onion bulbs. Two onion cultivars, ‘Mapshihwang’ (M) and ‘Yeongmihwang’ (Y), were grown in the field and allowed to bolt. The treatments included the removal of three different lengths of the flower stem (short, medium, or long), uncut flower stem until harvest, or unbolted plants (control). Bolting and the length of the flower stem removed had no effect on bulb diameter but caused a decrease in bulb weight. The flower stems were generated after three to five scales; bolting and flower stem removal reduced the number of scales by approximately one scale. The total soluble solid content (SSC) and the total sugar content were also unaffected by bolting and the length of the flower stem removed. The pungency of the M and Y cultivars, being an average of about 5.0 and 2.8 μmol·mL-1 pyruvic acid, respectively, was not changed. The total quercetin content showed various responses to the treatments and no clear differences compared to the unbolted bulbs. The total phenolic content was not changed by bolting or the stem removal treatments. In conclusion, bolting and removal of the flower stem caused a decrease in bulb weight, whereas the SSC, total sugar content, pungency, quercetin content, and total phenolic content remained unaffected, indicating that the chemical qualities of the bolted bulbs was identical to those of the unbolted, normal bulbs. The removal time of the flower stem had no significant difference on bulb quality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature Cited

  • Agic R, Popsimonova G, Jankulovski D, Martinovski G (2007) Winter onion susceptibility to premature bolting depending on the variety and sowing date. Acta Hortic 729:271–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andersen CR (2011) Home Gardening Series. Onions. FSA6014, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Fayetteville, AR, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Arvin M, Banakar M (2002) Effects of plant growth regulators on bolting and several traits of onion (Allium cepa) cv. Texas Early Grano. J Sci Technol Agric Nat Res Wat Soil Sci 6:59–70

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin S, Revanna R, Pither-Joyce M, Shaw M, Wright K, Thomson S, Moya L, Lee R, Macknight R, McCallum J (2014) Genetic analyses of bolting in bulb onion (Allium cepa L.). Theor Appl Genet 127:535–547

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Choudhri RS, Bhatnagar VB (1953) Prevention of premature bolting in onions following maleic hydrazide treatment. Proc Indian Acad Sci Sec B 37:14–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Desai BB (2004) Onions and related vegetables. In BB Desai, ed, Seeds Handbook: Biology, production, processing, and storage, Ed 2, Dekker, New York, pp 255–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Diaz-Perez JC, Purvis AC, Paulk JT (2003) Bolting, yield, and bulb decay of sweet onion as affected by nitrogen fertilization. J Am Soc Hortic Sci 128:144–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Dong, Y, Cheng Z, Meng H, Liu H, Wu C, Khan AR (2013) The effect of cultivar, sowing date and transplant location in field on bolting of Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum L.). BMC Plant Biol 13:154

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton BK, Pike LM, Yoo KS (1997) Clonal variations of pungency, sugar content, and bulb weight of onions due to sulfur nutrition. Sci Hortic 71:131–136

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hyun, DY, Kim OT, Bang KH, Kim YC, Yoo NH, Kim CW, Lee JH (2009) Genetic and molecular studies for regulation of bolting time of onion (Allium cepa L.). J Plant Biol 52:602–608

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Izquierdo J, Corgan JN (1980) Onion plant size and timing for ethephon-induced inhibition of bolting. J Am Soc Hortic Sci 105:66–67

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Khokhar KM, Hadley P, Pearson S (2007) Effect of cold temperature durations of onion sets in store on the incidence of bolting, bulbing and seed yield. Sci Hortic 112:16–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee EJ, Yoo KS, Jifon J, Patil BS (2009) Characterization of shortday onion cultivars of 3 pungency levels with flavor precursor, free amino acid, sulfur, and sugar contents. J Food Sci 74:475–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee EJ, Patil BS, Yoo KS (2015) Antioxidants of 15 onions with white, yellow, and red colors and their relationship with pungency, anthocyanin, and quercetin. LWT-Food Sci Technol 63:108–114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mousa MAA (2015) Control of doubling and early bolting bulbs of onion genotypes by sizes of sets and irrigation systems. Life Sci J 12:61–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Pike LM (1986) Onion breeding, In M Bassett, ed, Breeding vegetable crops, AVI Publishing Co, Westport, CT, pp 357–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Prior RL, Wu X, Schaich K (2005) Standardized methods for the determination of antioxidant capacity and phenolics in foods and dietary supplements. J Agric Food Chem 53:4290–4302

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vianney, MT, Albert WR, Zoumbiessé T (2011) Effects of seasons of bulb and seed production on the early bolting of onion (Allium cepa L.) cv. ‘violet de Galmi’. J Appl Biosci 40:2652–2658

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang M, Simon JE, Aviles F, He K, Zheng QY, Tadmor Y (2003) Analysis of antioxidative phenolic compounds in artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.). J Agric Food Chem 51:601–608

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waterhouse AL (2002) Determination of total phenolics, in current protocols in food analytical chemistry, In RE Wrolstad, eds, Current protocols in food analytical chemistry, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, pp I1.1.1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoo KS, Lee EJ, Patil BS (2010) Quantification of quercetin glycosides in 6 onion cultivars and comparison of hydrolysis-HPLC and spectrophotometric methods in measuring total quercetin concentrations. J Food Sci 75:160–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoo KS, Pike LM, Hamilton KM (1995) A simplified pyruvic acid analysis suitable for onion breeding programs. HortScience 30:1306

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kil Sun Yoo.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kwon, Y.S., Kim, C.W., Kim, J.S. et al. Effects of bolting and flower stem removal on the growth and chemical qualities of onion bulbs. Hortic. Environ. Biotechnol. 57, 132–138 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-016-0116-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-016-0116-7

Additional key words

Navigation