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Identity & Botany
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Canonical name | Yellow Onion |
| Scientific name | Allium cepa |
| Family / Genus | Amaryllidaceae / — |
| Produce category | Allium |
| Produce subcategory | Onion |
| FSMA 204 covered? | No |
| PLU — conventional | 4093 |
| PLU — organic | 94093 |
| AGROVOC URI | c_200 |
Source: GDF v2.1.1 s01_identity. External: FAO AGROVOC.
Varieties
Estimated commercial varieties: 75.
| Variety | Market share | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Patterson | 25% | A leading long-day storage onion. Known for its exceptional firmness, uniform globe shape, high yield, and strong disease resistance. Excellent for mechanical harvesting and long-term storage. |
| Copra | 18% | Another top-tier long-day storage onion, often compared to Patterson. Features very firm bulbs, good uniformity, and excellent disease resistance. Slightly earlier maturity than Patterson. |
| Yellow Granex (Vidalia type) | 12% | A prominent short-day onion, forming the basis for many sweet onion designations like Vidalia. Characterized by a flat-globe shape, very mild and sweet flavor, and high water content. Poor storage cap |
| Yellow Spanish (various hybrids) | 10% | A general category encompassing many modern long-day hybrids derived from the classic Yellow Spanish type. Known for large, firm, globe-shaped bulbs with moderate pungency and good storage potential. |
| Walla Walla Sweet | 7% | A famous long-day sweet onion, known for its exceptionally large size, very mild flavor, and high water content. Best consumed fresh due to very poor storage characteristics. |
| Candy | 6% | An intermediate-day onion that balances sweetness with moderate storage. Produces large, attractive bulbs with a mild flavor, suitable for fresh market and some storage. |
| New York Early | 4% | A long-day onion known for its early maturity, making it suitable for early fresh market sales. Produces medium-sized, firm bulbs with good pungency and moderate storage capabilities. |
Source: GDF v2.1.1 s04_varieties.variety_summaries.
Post-Harvest Handling
Temperature
- Freezing point: 30.6°F. Hard limit.
- Handling urgency: 1 / 5.
Ethylene
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Production class | very_low |
| Production rate (20°C) | 0.05 uL/kg.hr typical (0.01–0.1) |
| Sensitivity class | low |
| Sensitivity threshold | 10 ppm |
| Climacteric? | No |
Agent note: Ethylene can stimulate sprouting in some cultivars, but generally not a major concern for storage.
Mixed-load compatibility
Odor emitter, incompatible with odor-absorbing commodities.
Operational flags
- Can be top-iced? No
- Light-sensitive? No
Source: GDF v2.1.1 s07_harvest_post_harvest.
Market Intelligence
Demand
Stable with slight per capita consumption growth, driven by versatility in cooking.
Elasticity
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Price elasticity | -0.5 |
| Income elasticity | 0.2 |
| Organic premium elasticity | -1.2 |
Market share by variety
| Variety | Share |
|---|---|
| Yellow Onions (overall) | 85% |
Pack sizes
- 2lb bag
- 3lb bag
- 5lb bag
- 10lb bag
- 25lb sack
- 50lb sack
Source: GDF v2.1.1 s09_market_intelligence.
Rendered by commodity_profile_renderer v1.0.0 on 2026-05-15T23:50:00.000Z.