In traditional Chinese medicine, the culinary herb, onion, is a yang (positive) food. In Ayurveda, too, onion is said to stimulate the human body. Before the arrival of European settlers in the USA, Native Americans were known to consume wild onions as a vegetable and use them for seasoning food.
Wild onion was used to relieve cold, cough, and asthma. Both wild and cultivated species help expel gas and calm an upset stomach. (Augusti, K.T (2020) Onion has been used as both food and medicine since ancient times. Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, Romans, Greeks, and the tribal societies of Latin and North America were all familiar with this plant. The plant is mentioned in both the orally transmitted lore of ancient times and written literature. The plant has been in cultivation for at least over 3,000 years. A. cepa is the cultivated variety of Allium genus.
Onion as food
Green onions, popularly called spring onions, are used extensively in the cuisines of China and India, stir-fried or as a garnish. In India, chopped onions, mixed with other spices like turmeric, coriander, and chili, are shallow-fried in hot oil to garnish curries and lentils.
Onion soup is a popular recipe worldwide. Onions can be fried, pickled, caramelized, frozen, dehydrated, or canned.
In trade, there are three popular varieties of onions. Their color classifies them as yellow, white, and red onions. Yellow onions are the most common. The white variety is sharper and more pungent in flavor. Red onions have a milder flavor.
There is yet another very mild variety called the sweet onion. This variety of onion perishes faster than the others. Sweet onions are thinly sliced and served in salads. They are mainly used to garnish food. Soaking them in water after slicing can reduce their pungency.
Culinary herb, onion as medicine
In traditional Chinese medicine, onions are said to enhance chi or energy. They induce urination and perspiration. It is recommended for consumption when the weather is cold. Onion is said to soothe respiratory stress caused by cold weather. Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated that the culinary herb, onion is rich in antioxidants. No wonder onion is a popular food herb. The onion skin was noted to be particularly rich in antioxidants. Quercetin is found in abundance in the skin.
The German Federal Health Agency's Commission has approved onion as an antibacterial agent. The plant is rich in antioxidants, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds. The strong smell emanating from the onion is attributed to cysteine sulphoxide.
Planting and gardening
Onions can be grown both in pots and soil beds. The soil should be sandy loam to loam. It is best to use seeds and prepare seedlings in a seed bed. The seed bed can be a pot or a small bed in the backyard. The pot or the seed beds should be rich in compost. Seedlings are ready for transplanting into pots when they are four to six inches tall.
Depending on the size of the pot, plant one to three onion seedlings. Plants should have an eight-inch gap between them.
The plants can be fertilized with organic compost and NPK. They should be mildly watered; overwatering will cause the onion bulbs to rot.
Onions typically take around 100 days to reach a mature bulb stage. Onion bulb formation begins in three weeks. From that stage onward, people begin harvesting onions, using them as spring onions.
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