name: Garden Onion
flavor_db_name_variants: garden onion
source: foodb
status: draft
food_db_id: Garden onion
id: 6
name_scientific: Allium cepa
description: The onion (Allium cepa) (Latin 'cepa' = onion), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is used as a vegetable and is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. This genus also contains several other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion (A. fistulosum), the Egyptian onion (A. ×proliferum), and the Canada onion (A. canadense). The name "wild onion" is applied to a number of Allium species but A. cepa is exclusively known from cultivation and its ancestral wild original form is not known, although escapes from cultivation have become established in some regions.The onion is most frequently a biennial or a perennial plant, but is usually treated as an annual and harvested in its first growing season. Onions are cultivated and used around the world. As a foodstuff they are usually served cooked, as a vegetable or part of a prepared savoury dish, but can also be eaten raw or used to make pickles or chutneys. They are pungent when chopped and contain certain chemical substances which irritate the eyes. Onions contain phenolics and flavonoids that have potential anti-inflammatory, anti-cholesterol, anticancer and antioxidant properties.
itis_id: 42720
wikipedia_id: Onion
picture_file_name: 6.jpg
picture_content_type: image/jpeg
picture_file_size: 138437
picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:41:21.000Z
legacy_id: 6
food_group: Vegetables
food_subgroup: Onion-family vegetables
food_type: Type 1
created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:15.000Z
updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:04:13.000Z
creator_id: null
updater_id: null
export_to_afcdb: true
category: specific
ncbi_taxonomy_id: 4679
export_to_foodb: true
public_id: FOOD00006