A Production Analysis of Dry Onion Powder from the Water Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24925/turjaf.v11i8.1269-1275.5558Keywords:
Dry onion powder, Production analysis, Dry onion, Water use, Water footprint assessment, postharvest lossAbstract
Nigeria’s dry onion production amounted to 1.38× 106 metric tonnes (t) in 2020. Roughly 50% of yearly production do not reach the table. An option lies in converting fresh dry onions to dry onion powder to mitigate postharvest losses. This study explores the possibility of producing dry onion powder from fresh dry onions using a pre-tested locally fabricated direct-mode solar tent dryer. The outcome of processing revealed a product yield of 8.09%, while there was no statistically significant difference between the measured proximate contents of powder and fresh dry onions (t(28)=0.04, p=0.97, two-tailed; eta square=5.71 × 10-5). Overall, the production of dry onion powder was not water neutral. About 4.5 cubic metres (m3) of freshwater per tonne of cleaned onions were needed during processing. Dry onion powder production (from field to table) freshwater use amounted to 31879.6 m3/t. Converting 40 - 60% of national average dry onion production (2000-2020) to dry onion powder would consume 14.05 - 21.08 × 109 m3 of Nigeria’s freshwater. This study affirms that dry onion powder production is technically feasible and can help to minimise dry onion production postharvest losses in Nigeria.
References
Adeoti O. 2010. Water use impact of ethanol at a gasoline substitution ratio of 5% from cassava in Nigeria. Biomass and Bioenergy 34(7): 985-992, doi:10.1016/j.biombioe.2010.02.006
Adeoti O, Akinola FF, Ogundare SA, Awe BS. 2021b. Freshwater requirement to attain open-defecation-free status in Nigeria by 2025. J Water Sanit Hyg Dev. 11.1, doi:10.2166/washdev.2020.135
Adeoti O, Ayelegun TA, Oyewole BA. 2009. Impact of gari consumption on the water resource of Nigeria. Afr. J. Biotechnol. 8(25): 7283-7289
Adeoti O, Oyedele OA, Yusuf A. 2021a. The water footprint of dry onion production in Nigeria. Water Resour Ind. 25, 100147, doi:10.1016/j.wri.2021.100147
Ajayi OO, Fagbenle RO, Katende J, Ndambuki JM, Omole DO, Badejo AA. 2014. Wind energy study and energy cost of wind electricity generation in Nigeria: Past and recent results and a case study for south west Nigeria. Energies 7: 8508-8534, doi:10.3390/en7128508
Akinfenwa G. 2020. Harnessing onion powder potential for consumption, export. The Guardian Newspapers (Nigeria) Online. https://guardian.ng/features/harnessing-on ionpowder- potential-for-consumption-export/ (accessed 4 June 2022)
Aldaya MM, Hoekstra AY. 2010. The water needed for Italians to eat pasta and pizza. Agric. Syst. 103: 351-360, doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2010.03.004
Armand AB, Scher J, Aboubakar, Augustin G, Roger P, Montet D, Moses MC. 2018. Effect of three drying methods on the physicochemical composition of three varieties of onion (Allium cepa L). Journal of Food Sciences Nutrition 1(2):17-24
Ayensu A, Asiedu-Bondzie V. 1986. Solar drying with convective self-flow and energy storage. Solar & Wind Technology 3(4): 273-279
Bamba SBB, Komenan ACA, Kouassi KKP, Soro D. 2020. Effects of onion bulb processing conditions on drying characteristics, physicochemical and functional properties profile of onion (Allium cepa L.) powder. J Food Sci. 85(10): 3345-3354.
Chapagain AK, Hoekstra AY. 2010. The blue, green and grey water footprint of rice from production and consumption perspectives. Ecol. Econ. 70(4): 749 - 758, doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.11.012
Dantata IJ. 2014. Bulb moisture, ash and dry matter contents of onion provenances in Northern Bauchi, Nigeria. Asian J Appl Sci. 2(3): 368-374
Ercin AE, Aldaya MM, Hoekstra AY. 2011. The water footprint of soy milk and soy burger and equivalent animal products. Ecol Indic. 18: 392-402, doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.12.009
FAO. 2022. Crops and livestock products. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL (accessed Saturday, 4 June 2022)
FMST. 2014a. Draft National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policy (NREEEP). Energy Commission of Nigeria, Abuja
FMST. 2014b. National Energy Masterplan (draft revised edition). Energy Commission of Nigeria, Abuja
FRN. 2014. The project for review and update of Nigeria national water resources master plan, volume 4 – National water resources master plan 2013. Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Abuja
Ibáñez GR, Ruíz JMM, Sánchez MIR, López JLC. 2017. A corporate water footprint case study: The production of Gazpacho, a chilled vegetable soup. Water Resour Ind. 17: 34-42, doi:10.1016/j.wri.2017.04.001
IFC. 2010. Water footprint assessments: Dehydrated onion products micro-irrigation systems. Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd., India
Kim I, Kim K-S. 2019. Estimation of Water Footprint for Major Agricultural and Livestock Products in Korea. Sustainability 11, 2980, doi:10.3390/su11102980
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2021. Food loss in Nigeria - Value chain analysis (VCA) of tomato, onion, chilli value chains. https://www.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2021/02/Report-Food-Loss-in-Nigeria.pdf (accessed 4 June 2022)
Mitra J, Shrivastava SL, Rao PS. 2011. Onion dehydration: a review. J Food Sci Technol. 49(3): 267-277, doi:10.1007/s13197-011-0369-1
Sangwan A, Kawatra A, Sehgal S. 2010. Nutritional evaluation of onion powder dried using different drying methods. J Dairying Foods & H.S. 29(2): 151-153
Sasongko SB, Hadiyanto H, Djaeni M, Perdanianti AM, Utari FD. 2020. Effects of drying temperature and relative humidity on the quality of dried onion slice. Heliyon 6, e04338, doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04338
Seifu M, Tola YB, Mohammed A, Astatkie T. 2018. Effect of variety and drying temperature on physicochemical quality, functional property, and sensory acceptability of dried onion powder. Food Sci Nutr. 6: 1641-1649, doi:10.1002/fsn3.707
World Vegetable Center. 2022. Increasing production and reducing postharvest losses of onion in Nigeria. https://avrdc.org/increasing-production-and-reducingpostharvest-losses-of-onion-in-nigeria/ (accessed 4 June 2022)
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
