Onions bloom in June - August, fruiting in August - September.
Onions have a specific oniony taste and smell.
The plant's native range is southwestern Asia. Cultivated throughout the former USSR. Of all onion species, the onion has the greatest medicinal value. It is bred as a vegetable garden crop.
Use ripe bulbs for cooking and in recipes for diseases.
Chemical composition and properties of onions
The properties of onions have been well studied. In the bulb found essential oil containing sulfur; sugars-glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose (up to 11%), inulin, phytin, nitrogenous substances (up to 2.5%), vitamins C (10 mg%), Bi (60 mg%), provitamin A (carotene), flavonoids (quercetin and its glycosides), traces of iodine. Onion's medicinal properties are also found in its leaves ("nibs") contain essential oil, sugars, vitamins C (20 mg%), B2 (50 mg%), provitamin A (4 mg%), citric, malic and other acids. The whole plant has phytoncidal activity, so the properties of onions are used to treat many ailments.
The effects and uses of onions
The sharp odor and irritating mucous membranes are due to the essential oil containing sulfides. The crystalline substance extracted from onion kills Staphylococcus aureus and diphtheria bacillus at a dilution of 1 : 100,000. Onion preparations have vitamin activity (especially C), disinfectant, hypotensive effect. The use of onions is recommended in hypertension, arteriosclerosis, hypo- and avitaminosis and in all other cases where additional administration of vitamin C is required, atony of the intestine, colitis nedizenterynogo origin.
It has been experimentally established that preparations containing onion properties increase the tone and secretion of the gastrointestinal tract, have bactericidal properties. Externally, the use of onion is recommended in rhinitis to lubricate the nasal cavity. In gynecological practice it is used for the treatment of trichomonad colpitis.
Treatment with onion phytoncides is performed in two ways: inhalation - by inhaling volatile parts of essential oil of grated bulb and ingestion of extracts, alcohol or water tinctures. Widely used as a home treatment for catarrh of the upper respiratory tract, flu, sore throat, etc.
The use of onions inhalation method is recommended for the treatment of suppurative processes in the lungs: abscesses, bronchiectatic disease, cavernous forms of pulmonary tuberculosis and others. Bacteria are killed only by freshly prepared onion porridge, when left in the air for 10-15 minutes, the volatile bactericidal substances disappear.
Ingestion of extracts, infusions and other preparations is indicated in the treatment of intestinal diseases, spastic and atonic constipation, diarrhea.
In Bulgaria, fresh onion leaves, turned into a mush, are also used for colds, flu, intestinal atony, sclerotic form of hypertension, avitaminosis. According to Bulgarian doctors, a small head of onion eaten in the evening is indicated for the treatment of prostate hypertrophy.
In folk medicine, the properties of onions are known as a diuretic and diaphoretic since the time of Hippocrates, who prescribed squeezed juice from the bulbs a few tablespoons a day with honey. Fresh onions are useful in scurvy and impotence.
For chest pain, dropsy earlier doctors prescribed baked or fried onions with fresh oil. Baked onions were, in addition, prescribed externally for the treatment of some purulent skin diseases. For faster cure of boils, poultices of onions boiled in milk were prescribed.
Fresh juice from onion with honey was used to smear eyelids for poor eyesight. Onions have long been considered by the people as a remedy to protect against infectious diseases..
