Tsibulya gorodnya – onion

Garden onion is one of the oldest cultivated spicy and tasty plants. It was known more than 4 thousand years BC. e. in Central, South and North-East Asia (modern Iran, Afghanistan, India

and China). A few centuries before our era, the plant appeared in Egypt, and then in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. In Western Europe, onions were first tried in the 5th-6th centuries AD. e., and in our country – in the 12th-13th centuries.

This is a perennial bulbous, bluish-green plant of the Onion family (previously it belonged to the Lily family). The flowering stem usually exceeds the lateral leaves in height, it is tubular, straight, 30-80 (up to 100) cm tall. The leaves are double-rowed, tubular, sharp. The flowers are regular, bisexual, collected in a spherical umbrella-like inflorescence, closed before flowering. The plant blooms from June to August. The fruit is a box, the seeds are small bulbs. Under natural conditions, garden onions are unknown. It is grown everywhere for greens and bulbs. There are many different varieties of bulbs that differ in shape, color and taste. Edible (spicy-flavored), honey-bearing, vitamin and medicinal plant.

Fresh bulbs are usually used to prepare medicines. It is not by chance that they say: “Garden onions are food for health.”

Bulbs are rich in various biologically active compounds. They contain sugars (2.5-14%), fiber (0.5-0.8%), pectin substances (0.5-0.8%), organic acids (succinic, malic, citric), amino acids (glycine , threonine, alanine, proline, tyrosine, glutamine). In addition, they contain vitamins C, B1, B2, PP, B5 (pantothenic acid). The leaves are rich in vitamin C, riboflavin (vitamin B 2 ), carotenoids and organic acids. Their composition also includes the main pigments of the plant kingdom – chlorophyll and xanthophyll. Bulbs and leaves contain a significant amount of various macro- and microelements, as well as volatile bactericidal substances – phytoncides. In addition, a complex essential oil is isolated from them.

Onion stimulates the secretory and motor functions of the gastrointestinal tract, has a phytoncide and anthelmintic effect (repels roundworms and pinworms). Onions are known to have antisclerotic and hypoglycemic (lowering blood sugar) properties. Eating raw bulbs increases sperm secretion and increases potency in men. It is useful to use onions in diseases of the digestive tract (colitis, constipation, intestinal atony, diarrhea). It is also used for the treatment and prevention of atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, prostatic hypertrophy (enlargement of the prostate gland). For bronchitis, cough, whooping cough and atherosclerosis, it is very useful to consume fresh onion juice mixed with bee honey. Alcohol extract from bulbs (dispensed in pharmacies under the name “Allilchep”) is prescribed for intestinal atony, diarrhea and atherosclerosis.

Greens and onions, as well as various products from them, are contraindicated in organic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, they are also not recommended in cardiovascular diseases (in this case, moderate use of onions is allowed).

Onions are also used as a means for external use. Onion gruel is instilled into the nose for colds and flu. The juice of the plant is useful for lubricating the skin in the treatment of mycosis, dermatitis, helps with insect bites, nest baldness and diffuse (scattered) hair loss. Among the people, onions in the form of applications were used to remove corns and warts; in the form of inhalations – for sore throats and lung diseases. Baked onions, according to ancient recipes, are applied to boils twice a day for quick ripening.

The nutritional qualities of onions have been known for a long time: salads are seasoned with onions, and it is good to decorate herring with early greens or rings of fresh onions. No housewife will cook soup or prepare a meat or fish dish without onions. In a word, onions are our everyday companion.

It would seem that bees should scare off the smell of a plant. It turns out not a little. Insects harvest a lot of honey from 1 hectare of flowering onions – up to 320 kg. Onion honey is light, with a greenish tint, opaque. At first, it has an onion smell, which then disappears during storage. This honey crystallizes into a light, fine-grained mass. Beekeepers usually use it for winter feeding of bees.

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