When did Carl Linnaeus first describe the onion plant?
Carl Linnaeus first described the onion plant in his 1753 work Species Plantarum. The scientific name Allium cepa comes from Latin, where cepa means onion and Allium refers to garlic.
Questions about Onion
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Where is the geographic origin of the onion plant located?
Domestication likely occurred in West or Central Asia though ancient records span both eastern and western Asia. Related wild species occur in Central Asia and Iran including A. vavilovii from Turkmenistan and A. asarense from Iran.
How many years have humans grown and selectively bred onions for food?
Humans have grown and selectively bred onions for at least 7,000 years. Recipes using onions appeared on cuneiform tablets in ancient Mesopotamia around 2000 BC held in Yale University's Babylonian collection.
What causes freshly cut onions to make people cry?
Freshly cut onions produce stinging sensation causing uncontrollable tears through syn-propanethial-S-oxide release. Chopping damages cells releasing enzymes called alliinases breaking down amino acid sulfoxides generating sulfenic acids that rapidly act on by lacrimatory factor synthase producing irritating gas.
When did Bayer release the first commercially available no tears onion crop?
Bayer released first commercially available LFS-silenced Sunions crop yield in early 2018 after 30 years cross-breeding without genetic modification. In 2008 New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research created no tears onions preventing lachrymatory factor synthesis.