Onion is one of the most important commercial vegetable crops grown in India. Both immature and mature bulbs are used as vegetable and condiment. It contains vitamin B and a trace of vitamin C and also traces of iron and calcium. The outstanding characteristic of onion is its pungency, which is due to a volatile oil known as allyl-propyl disulphide. Onions compared with other fresh vegetable are relatively high in food energy, intermediate in protein content and rich in calcium and riboflavin.
In the food processing field, dehydration is sometimes described as the removal of 85% or more of water from a food substance, by exposure to thermal energy by various means. Thermal dehydration reduces volume of the product, increases shelf-life, and lowers transportation cost. There is no clearly defined line of demarcation between drying and dehydrating, and latter sometimes being considered as a supplement of drying. Usually, the direct use of solar energy, as in the drying of raisin, layette is not lumped with dehydrating. The term dehydration also is not generally applied to situations where there is a loss of water as the result of evaporation.
Dehydrated onions are used chiefly as a constituent in various food products i.e. they are sold to manufacturing concerns as an industrial raw material and demand for dehydrated onions is a function of the demand of these food products. However there is a demand for dehydrated onions for use as culinary onions, both by large catering concerns - institutions and industrial canteens; and for domestic use. The other use of dehydrated onions is in the manufacture of dried soups-once virtually the sole outlet for these products, but now declining in relative importance, as other applications including use in canned soups and stews, baby foods, fish, meat and bakery products and more recently in dried `ready-meals' have been developed. So far as possible both merchants and users were consulted in due course. Since there are relatively few dried soup manufacturers, it was possible to contact a majority of the users in this class. Retail outlets obtain supplies largely from food manufacturers. The different market sectors account for varying proportions of demand for dehydrated onions. Dehydrated onion slices and pieces are sold to all four market sectors.
The global market for dehydrated onions registered the revenue worth US$ 950 Mn in 2017, which is likely to reach in excess of US$ 1,500 Mn by the end of 2028.Future Market Insights expects the dehydrated onions market to observe stable growth at a promising CAGR of 4.8% over the 10-year assessment period, 2018-2028.
India had exported about 50,000 tonnes in 2016 and the industry is expecting to export about 35,000-40,000 tonnes. India is offering dehydrated onions at $1,650 per tonne while China and Egypt offer it in $2,000 a tonne. On the other hand, the country is having about 20,000 tonnes of dehydrated onion carry-forward stock unsold with the producers. Exports begin in January every year and by June end, the country exports almost 85-90 per cent. In India dehydration of many food products especially vegetables and some fruits are in practices at home and industry level throughout year. Thus, due to demand it is best to invest in this project.
Few Indian major players are as under
Darshan Foods Pvt. Ltd.
Hindustan Foods Ltd.
Meghmani Organics Ltd.
L M P Gujarat Agro Exports Ltd.
Kasaar Innovative Foods Ltd.
Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd.
S Y P Agro Foods Ltd.
