Physical Properties of Garlic Bulbs and Cloves: Effect of Variety and Location

Background and Objective: Garlic is one of the most significant bulb vegetables and is widely used as a spice and flavoring agent in cuisines worldwide, including Ethiopia. It is a fundamental ingredient in various dishes across numerous countries. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of garlic variety and location on the physical properties of garlic bulbs and cloves. Materials and Methods: The 4 released and seven promising garlic varieties were grown using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) at Chefe Donsa and Debre Zeit. The physical properties of garlic bulbs and cloves, including length, width, thickness and several diameters, as well as surface area, shape index, bulk density, aspect ratio and sphericity were determined. These properties were measured to evaluate the effects of variety and location. Statistical analysis was conducted with SAS software, version 9.4, to identify significant differences. Results: The results showed that garlic bulb size varied with lengths between 36.32 to 40.67 mm, widths from 30.50 to 34.07 mm and thicknesses from 25.24 to 29.21 mm. Clove dimensions ranged from 19.11 to 23.28 mm in length, 7.6 to 11.17 mm in width and 5.55 to 8.13 mm in thickness. Location significantly affected parameters like width, arithmetic mean diameter and bulk density for bulbs and all measured parameters for cloves. Conclusion: Therefore, this study established a better understanding of the effects of variety and growing location on the physical properties of garlic bulbs and cloves of eleven varieties. The variation in these properties was considered during the design of the various processing equipment used for garlic.