| Abstract
| - The storage, soluble, and structural carbohydrates of two onion cultivars, the hard, pungent PukekoheLongkeeper (PLK) and the softer, milder Houston Grano, were analyzed to determine differencesthat might be related to their response to sulfur nutrition received during growth as well as theirpostharvest attributes and end-use suitability. PLK tissue had 7 times more dry matter, composed ofmore fructan, sucrose, and glucose and less fructose, than Grano and a greater proportion of fructanwith a degree of polymerization of 3−5. There were also differences in neutral sugar content, especiallygalactose, and the amount, size, and content of pectin fractions soluble in chelator and weak alkali.These two onion cultivars differed in their capacity to take up sulfur, but there was no statisticalassociation between sulfur supply and any measured dry matter component. Keywords: Onion; texture; polysaccharide; cell wall; fructan; pectin
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