Anti-fungal seed dressings are available and the disease can be minimised by preventing physical damage to the bulbs

at harvesting, careful drying and curing of the mature onions and correct storage in a cool, dry place with plenty of circulating air.[51]

Storage in the home

Cooking onions and sweet onions are better stored at room temperature, optimally in a single layer, in mesh bag in a dry, cool, dark, well-ventilated location. In this environment, cooking onions have a shelf life of three to four weeks and sweet onions one to two weeks. Cooking onions will absorb odours from apples and pears. Also, they draw moisture from vegetables with which they are stored which may cause them to decay.[43][52] Sweet onions have a greater water and sugar content than cooking onions. This makes them sweeter and milder tasting but reduces their shelf life. Sweet onions can be stored refrigerated; they have a shelf life of approximately one month. Irrespective of type, any cut pieces of onion are best tightly wrapped, stored away from other produce, and used within two to three days.[40]

Onion strings

Varieties
Common onion group (var. cepa)
Most of the diversity within A. cepa occurs within this group, the most economically important Allium crop. Plants within this group form large single bulbs, and are grown from seed or seed-grown sets. The majority of cultivars grown for dry bulbs, salad onions, and pickling onions belong to this group.[11] The range of diversity found among Onion, at end of storage life, these cultivars includes variation in photoperiod (length of day that beginning to sprout [53] triggers bulbing), storage life, flavour, and skin colour. Common onions range from the pungent varieties used for dried soups and onion powder to the mild and hearty sweet onions, such as the Vidalia from Georgia, USA, or Walla Walla from Washington that can be sliced and eaten on a sandwich instead of meat. European onions A number of onions have Protected Geographical Status in Europe, these include: Cebolla Fuentes de Ebro, a sweet, watery and soft variety from Zaragoza, Spain (PDO)[54] Cipolla Rossa di Tropea, a red onion from Calabria, Italy (PGI)[55] Cipollotto Nocerino, a spring/salad onion-sized Allium cepa from Campania, Italy (PDO)[56] Oignon doux des Cvennes, a sweet onion from the southeast of France (PDO)[57]

Aggregatum group (var. aggregatum )

This group contains shallots and potato onions, also referred to as multiplier onions. The bulbs are smaller than those of common onions, and a single plant forms an aggregate cluster of several bulbs. They are propagated almost exclusively from daughter bulbs, although reproduction from seed is possible. Shallots are the most important subgroup within this group and comprise the only cultivars cultivated commercially. They form aggregate clusters of small, narrowly ovoid to pear-shaped bulbs. Potato onions differ from shallots in forming larger bulbs with fewer bulbs per cluster, and having a flattened (onion-like) shape. However, intermediate forms exist.[11] I'itoi onion (Allium cepa) is a prolific multiplier onion cultivated in the Baboquivari Peak Wilderness, Arizona area. This small bulb type has a shallot-like flavour and is easy to grow and ideal for hot, dry climates. Bulbs are separated, and planted in the fall 1 inch below surface and 12 inches apart. Bulbs will multiply into clumps and can be harvested throughout the cooler months. Tops will die back in the heat of summer and may return with heavy rains; bulbs can remain in the ground or be harvested and stored in a cool dry place for planting in the fall. The plants rarely flower; propagation is by division.[58]

Species that may be confused with A. cepa

Scallions or salad onions may be grown from the Welsh onion (A. fistulosum) as well as from A. cepa. Young plants of A. fistulosum and A. cepa look very similar, but may be distinguished by their leaves, which are circular in cross-section in A. fistulosum rather than flattened on one side.[59] Hybrids with A. cepa parentage A number of hybrids are cultivated that have A. cepa parentage, such as the tree onion or Egyptian onion (A. proliferum), Wakegi onion (A. wakegi), and the triploid onion (A. cornutum).
Diploid hybrids

Rossa di Tropea for sale

The tree onion or Egyptian onion produces bulblets in the flower head instead of flowers, and is now known to be a hybrid of A. cepa A. fistulosum. It has previously been treated as a variety of A. cepa, for example A. cepa var. proliferum, A. cepa var. bulbiferum, and A. cepa var. viviparum.[60] The Wakegi onion is also known to be a hybrid between A. cepa and A. fistulosum, with the A. cepa parent believed to be from the Aggregatum Group of cultivars.[61] It has been grown for centuries in Japan and China for use as a salad onion.[62] Under the rules of botanical nomenclature, both the Egyptian onion and Wakegi onion should be combined into one hybrid species, having the same parent species. Where this is followed, the Egyptian onion is named A. proliferum Eurasian Group and the Wakegi onion is named A. proliferum East Asian Group.[2]
Triploid onions

The triploid onion is a hybrid species with three sets of chromosomes, two sets from A. cepa and the third set from an unknown parent.[61] Various clones of the triploid onion are grown locally in different regions, such as 'Ljutika' in Croatia, and 'Pran', 'Poonch' and 'Srinagar' in the India-Kashmir region. 'Pran' is grown extensively in

the Northern Indian provinces of Jammu and Kashmir. There are very small genetic differences between 'Pran' and the Croatian clone 'Ljutika', implying a monophyletic origin for this species.[63] Some authors have used the name A. cepa var. viviparum (Metzg.) Alef. for the triploid onion, but this name has also been applied to the Egyptian onion. The only name unambiguously connected with the triploid onion is A. cornutum.

Production and trade

It is estimated that around the World, over 9,000,000 acres (3,642,000 ha) of onions are grown annually. About 170 countries cultivate onions for domestic use and about eight percent of the global production is traded internationally.[21]
A. proliferum, tree onion

Onion and shallot output in 2005

Top Ten Onions (dry) Producers 2012 (metric tons) China India United States Egypt Iran Turkey Pakistan Brazil Russia Republic of Korea World Total 20,507,759 13,372,100 3,320,870 2,208,080 1,922,970 1,900,000 1,701,100 1,556,000 1,536,300 1,411,650 74,250,809

Source: UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)[64]

The Onion Futures Act, passed in 1958, bans the trading of futures contracts on onions in the United States. This prohibition came into force after farmers complained about alleged market manipulation by Sam Seigel and Vincent Kosuga at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange two years earlier. The subsequent investigation provided economists with a unique case study into the effects of futures trading on agricultural prices. The act remains in effect as of 2013.[65]

See also
Allicin Desquamation Herbalism List of Allium species Onion Johnny Pyruvate scale Welsh onion

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Further reading
Block, E. (2010). Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science. Royal Society of Chemistry (UK). ISBN 978-0-85404-190-9. Gripshover, Margaret M., and Thomas L. Bell, Patently Good Ideas: Innovations and Inventions in U.S. Onion Farming, 18831939, Material Culture (Spring 2012), vol 44 pp 130. Sen, Colleen T. (2004). Food culture in India. Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 0-313-32487-5. Barbagallo, Tricia (June 1, 2005). "Black Beach: The Mucklands of Canastota, New York" (http://www.archives.nysed.gov/apt/magazine/MagSummer05FeatureArticle_000.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 200806-04.

External links
PROTAbase on Allium cepa (http://database.prota.org/dbtw-wpd/exec/dbtwpub.dll? AC=QBE_QUERY&BU=http%3A%2F%2Fdatabase.prota.org%2Fsearch.htm&TN=PROTAB~1&Q B0=AND&QF0=Species+Code&QI0=Allium+cepa&RF=Webdisplay) Allium cepa L. (http://libproject.hkbu.edu.hk/was40/detail? lang=en&channelid=1288&searchword=herb_id=D00380) Medicinal Plant Images Database (School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University) (traditional Chinese) The template En is being considered for
merging.

(English)

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