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FOOD RESOURCE
COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

**ONION, ALLIUM CEPA, KHTIM BARAING, CONGTOU, YEUNG CHUNG, BAWANG BOMBAY, PYAZ, BAWANG BESAR, HUA HOM, HANH TAY**

Excerpts from Bender, Arnold E. 1990. Dictionary of Nutrition and Food Technology. Butterworths, Boston.

Bulb of Allium cepa. Analysis of mature bulb per 100 g: 93 g water, 5 g sugars, 1 g protein, 25 kcal (199 kJ), 3-15 mg vitamin C.
Spring onion per 100 g: 87 g water, 9 g sugar, 3 g dietary fiber, 1 g protein, 140 mg Ca, 1 mg Fe, 35 kcal (150 kJ), 20-30 mg vitamin C.

Excerpts from Passmore, Jacki. 1991. The Encyclopedia of Asian Food and Cooking. Hearst Books, New York.

Native to central Asia and with many varieties grown throughout the world, the onion is probably the most universally used vegetable and seasoning ingredient. In ancient China onions and their relative were listed amongst the dietary taboos of the Buddhist religion. Scallions, garlic and various onions were a group of forbidden foods, the “five strong-odored foods” known as wu hun. Belonging to the Liliaceae family, onions are characterized by layered crisp flesh, usually white but in some types a red-purple. When raw they have a pungent odor and strong flavor, which becomes almost sweet when cooked. Onion is used extensively in most Asian cuisines. The Japanese, however, use it only sparingly. Although onion appears in many Chinese stir-fired dishes in Western cities, it is generally not used in this way in China. Their chefs prefer the more subtle flavor and finer texture of scallions or native leeks. Yellow, brown, and white-skinned onions, as well as a red-purple type similar to the Spanish onion, are all used. Onions are also used as a garnish in the form of fried onion flakes, which are frequently used by the Thais, Malays, and Indonesians to decorate rice, noodle and meat dishes and salads. Also known as khtim baraing (Cambodia); congtou, yeung chung (China); bawang Bombay (Indonesia); pyaz (India, Nepal); bawang besar (Malaysia); hua hom(Thailand); hanh tay (vietnam)

Simon, Andre L. 1952. A Concise Encyclopaedia of Gastronomy. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York.

Lat. Allium Cepa; Fr. Oignon; Ger. Zwieffeln; It. Cipolla; sp. Cebolla.

Garrett, Theodore Francis (edited by). 1898. the Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery. L. Upcott Gill, 170, Strand, W.C. London. Vol. III

is a bulb (Allium Cepa) belongs to the tribe of lilies, but is readily distinguished from the sweet-scented flowers by the odor of the bulbs, which is so peculiar as to be almost offensive until dealt with by culinary artists. To this tribe belong chives, garlic, leeks, rocambole of Denmark and shallots.

Igoe, Robert S. 1983. Dictionary of Food Ingredients. Van Nostrand and Reinhold Company.

is a flavorant, being the vegetable Allium cepa L. commercially processed into powder, salt, minced, and toasted form. It is used in meats, sauces, soups, and dips.

Hensolt, Edith A. 1966. How Oregon Indians Used the Native Flora. Benton cdounty Historical Society & Museum, Philomath, Oregon.

All varieties were used for food and commerce. Lewis and Clark said they were good for gas caused by too much camas. They were also made iinto poultices for sickness and injury.

Grimes, William. 2004. Eating Your Worlds. Oxford University Press.

is an edible bulb with a pungent taste and smell, composed of several concentric layers, widely used in cooking and raw in salads. -
ORIGIN Middle English: from Old French oignon, based on Latin unio(n-), denoting a kind of onion.

Excerpts from Hawkes, Alex D. 1968. A World of Vegetable Cookery. Simon and Schuster, New York.

Probably originally from western Asia, the Onion (Allium Cedpa, of the Lily Family) has been cultivated by man since prehistoric times. The babylonians and the ancient Egyptians ate these bulbous plants, and the flavorful hollow leaves as well, and the Romans and Greeks were fond of them utilizing them in their often ornate culinary endeavors.

The bulbs of this very adaptable liliaceous plant, raw or cooked, dehydrated or dessiccated or frozen, are used by the good modern cook.

Maul
Available on West Coast. It is avaiable: mid-February to late-November.

OSO Sweet (Chile, South American)
A Spring onion grown in South America. Availability: late-December through March.

Sweet Imperial, Italian Red (California)
Grown in the Imperial Valley of Southern California. Availability: late April through August.

The Texas Sweets (Texas)
Texas Spring Sweets become available in mid-March. The Texas 1015 makes its appearance around mid-april. It is availability: mid-March to mid-June.

Vidalia (Georgia)
From Vidalia Georgia has been grown since 1931 when Georgia farmer Mose Coleman discovered the sweet oven. Avaiable: late April to mid-June.

Walla Walla Sweet (Washington State)
Grown in Walla Walla county in Southeastern Washington and a part of Umatilla County in northeastern Oregon. Came from Corsica in the 1800s. Availabe: mid-June through mid-August.

Vidalia Onions

In North Carolina in 1931 when a Georgia farmer named Mose Coleman planted a new crop of onions. At harvest time he got a sweet surprise. Instad of tasting hot as he had thought they might, they were mild, juicy and sweet.

When he started fetching a decent prices for his onions, other farmers suffering through the depression followed suit. By 1940, the state of Georgia built a Farmer's Market in the town of Vidalia.

Unknown Newspaper
There is much talk about where sweet onions first originated. According to the Vidalia Onion Committee, their first appearance in Georgia was in 1931 when a Georgia farmer, Mose Coleman, discovered the onions he planted tasted sweet, not hot. His displeasure didn't last. When word spread, sweet vidalia onions became world famous.

But Texas may be the site of the first commercially grown sweet onion, the Texas Sweet (also called 1015 Supersweet), which shows up in markets in late March or early april.

Other sweet onions include the California Imperial, Arizona Sweet, Walla Walla (which arrives around July out of Washington State) and Maui onions (grown year-round in Hawaii, but rare in this market).

With the introduction of the fresh Chilean-grown OSO Sweet, which boasts a November through April harvest, sweet onions can now be eaten practically year-round.

Lloyd Nichols of Nichols Farm and Orchards in Marengo will be making the rounds of Chicago and Evanston farmers markets as usual this year with his Grannix sweet onions that are similar to Vidalias. Early in the season he also will have red and green bunching onions, commonly called knob (large green onions with small knoblike bulbs).

"As the growing season progresses," he said, "we will harvesting sweet sandwich onions, which are dry and mild, as well as cippolines," which he described as "small zesty white onions."

The all-purpose bulbs

all-purpose yellow onions are the most common cooking onions. They are hot, and are the most likely to make you cry while you are cutting them. Spanish onions are a large yellow onion that is milder and sweeter than most storage onions. When sweet onions are not available. Spanish onions can be substituted.

Red onions are sharp and pungent, but also with a bit of sweetness to them. Their color makes them a beautiful additoin to salads, but when cooked their color fades unless lemon juice, wine or vinegar is added.

White onions are hot with a sharper flavor than yellows. They often are used in Mexican cuisine. Pearl onions are small white, yellow or red onions, about an inch in diameter and mild in flavor. Boiling onions are usually white and about the size of a golf ball. Fairly pungent, they are often simmered whole in stews.

Whatever the variety, onions contain vitamin C, calcium, potassium and dietary fiber. A medium yellow onion has about 60 calories if eaten raw and about 80 if cooked.

Caramelized or raw, sweet or savory, fresh onions have surfaced. It's time to offer their hearty flavor as the focal point of a meal.

Herbs & Spices for Thai Cooking. "Welcome to Chiangmai & chiangrai p. 73. [incomplete reference of Thai spices and herbs]

Excerpts from SPRING ONIONS (TOHN HORM) is your standard long-stemmed, small onion, green and white and used iin Thai food as a garnish for soups, salads and vegetables.

UNITED FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLE ASSOCIATION, 727 N. Washington, Alexandria, VA 22314 FEBRUARY 1974 original author R. A. SEELIG scanned and edited by ZoeAnn Holmes. Subject Green Onions

BOTANY Most of the green onions in America and Europe are cultivars of the common onion. Botanically, green onions and dry onions, as a class, differ only in the stage at which they are harvested. The common onion is Allium cepa of the amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). Aside from grade at time of federal or state inspection, the consumer should expect green onions to have green, fresh tops, medium sized necks and be well blanched for two or three inches from the root, and that the onions are young, crisp and tender. Wilted or discolored tops indicate poor quality.

DEFINITION "Green onions", say Jones and Mann, "are those that are pulled while the tops are still green and usually before a large bulb has formed. Many kinds of onions are so usedÑnon bulbing as well as bulbing types. The latter can be harvested at any stage of bulb development, but generally the young tender plants are preferred. If we consider green onions on a world wide basis, their consumption would probably approach that of mature onions, although it is difficult to get reliable estimates. In some countries, such as China, green onions are used more extensively than bulbs." (1)

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE Green onions are grown virtually everywhere in the United States but large I commercial production is limited to a few areas. i Fairly cool temperatures and a good supply of moisture are desirable. Although green onions grow over a wide range of temperature, explaining their extensive distribution, by far the largest amounts are grown in California, Arizona, Texas and New Jersey. Ohio, Colorado and Washington also are fairly large suppliers. (2, 3, 4)

HISTORY From earliest recorded times onions have been highly esteemed, whether small, young and with green tops or matured dried bulbs. The history of green onions is the same as that of dry onions and will not be repeated here. See Facts and Pointers on dry onions, Seelig, 1970. (5)

USES Green onions are a savory morsel eaten raw with meat, cheese or fish. Many like to munch on the tops as well as the small bulbs. The tops are more nutritious than the white parts. Sometimes the greens are chopped and mixed with cottage cheese. Often green onions are cut up and put in salad. They may also be boiled and served like asparagus. Hot green onions served on toast with a rich cheese are tasty. Green onions combine well into Chinese dishes. Serve them with meat loaf, with hash, hamburgers, even scrambled eggs. One good way of cooking is to boil in 1 inch of salted water until barely tender, 8 to 10 minutes, according to Western Growers Association.

GRADES The U.S. standard grades for common green onions are U.S. 1 and U.S. 2. These standards do not apply to leeks, Welch or Japanese multiplier onions or to shallots. "U.S. 1 shall consist of green onions which are fairly well formed, firm, young and tender, fairly clean, free from decay, and from damage caused by seedstems, roots, foreign material, disease, insects, mechanical or other means. The bulbs shall be well trimmed. The tops shall be fresh, of good green color, free from damage caused by broken or bruised leaves, or by clipping. When all the tops of the onions have been evenly clipped back in accordance with good commercial practice, they shall be specified as 'Clipped Tops' in connection with the grade." (6)

"(a) Oversll length. Unless otherwise specified, the over all length (roots excepted) of the onions shall be not more than 24 inches nor less than 8 inches and the onions shall be not less than one fourth of an inch or more than one inch in diameter." (6)

"(b) Tolerance for defects. In order to allow for variations, other than size, incident to proper grading and handling, not more than a total of 10% by count, of the onions in any lot may fail to meet the requirements of this grade, but not more than 5% shall be allowed for defects causing serious damage, including not more than 2So for onions affected by decay." (6)

"(c) Tolerance for size. Not more than a total of 10%, by count, of the onions in any lot may fail to meet the requirements as to the specified length, minimum diameter or maximum diameter, but not more than 5% shall be allowed for any one of the requirements for size". (6)

"Size. 'Small' means less than 1/4 inch (in diameter). 'Medium' means 1/4 to 1 inch. 'Large' means over 1 inch." (6)

"Definitions. 'Fairly well formed ' means that the onion is not more than slightly cuned, angular, crooked, lopsided or otherwise slightly misshapen. 'Fairly clean' means that the appearance of the onion is not materially injured by dirt. 'Damage' means any injury or defect which materially affects the appearance, or the edible or shipping quality. 'Seedstems'. An onion with a seedstem shall be considered as damaged if the seedstem has been broken at a point other than at the top, or is coarse, fibrous, hollow or soft, or has separated naturally from the sheath or skin. Onions often show flower buds while the seedstem is still tender. Such onions are not objectionable if the flower buds have been removed, or if present are not noticeably protruding; however, an onion with a seedstem which after the flower bud has been removed, exceeds the length of the longest leaves of the plant, shall be considered as damaged. 'Clipping'. The tops of onions are sometimes clipped or pinched back to remove discolored or otherwise injured leaves. An individual plant shall not be considered as damaged when not more than the tips of all the leaves have been clipped or pinched back to a greater extent but not to the extent that the appearance is materially injured; or when the tops of all the onions have been evenly clipped back in accordance with good commercial practice and the designation 'Clipped Tops' is specified in connection with the grade." (6)

"'Well trimmed' means that the bulb is not broken about the point of root attachment and is practically free from dead, discolored or slick outer skins. Fresh, clean, loose skins which do not materially affect the appearance of the individual onion or the bunch are permitted. 'Fresh' means that the tops are not withered or badly wilted. 'Good green color' means that the tops have a normal green color characteristic of healthy plants. A slight discoloration of the extreme tips and slight scarring caused by thrips are not objectionable. 'Diameter' means the greatest dimension of the onion taken at right angles to the longitudinal axis." (6)

This is not the entire standard. The full text is obtainable free from Fruit and Vegetable Division, Agricultural Marketing Senice, USDA, Washington, D.C. 20250.

VARIETIES "At times, almost any of the white varieties are used for green, or bunching onions. These include the short day types like Crystal Wax and Eclipse, and the long day types such as White Sweet Spanish, Southport, White Globe and White Portugal. For market, it is essential to choose the white varieties, but for the home garden where the onions are pulled and used immediately, color is not too important a consideration." (10)

Many different varieties are used for green bunching onions, but Dr. Henry A. Jones of Dessert Seed Co., E1 Centro, Calif., an authority on onions (see reference 1) says that White Lisbon is "probably the most widely grown variety for green bunch onions produced from seed. It is a long day type and can be grown later than most varieties without getting bulb formation. The foliage is upright growing, dark green, and maintains a fresh look for a considerable time after harvest. The flesh is white, crisp and mild." (10)

Other varieties suggested by the same source are: "Perfecto Blanco, an excellent selection of White Sweet Spanish widely used for green bunching. Leaves dark bluish green, with long, clear white stalks which are slow to bulb. Beltsville Improved "is winter hardy in the northern U.S. Over wintered plants make a rapid growth in early spring and these white shoots are crisp and mild. Later in the season they become more pungent. "Hedhi Ko (long white bunching) "A perennial bunching type that continues to divide at the base to form new shoots throughout the growing season. Plants are winter hardy and are somewhat resistant to smut, pink root and yellow dwarf. Shoots are small and the flesh is white and mildly pungent". Home Garden Bunching. "An ideal home garden onion because of its exceptional vigor, winter hardiness, heat tolerance, and resistance to smut, yellow dwarf, and pink root. It makes a rapid growth in early spring from overwintered plants, at which time the flesh is crisp and mild. The flesh has a light pinkish tint." (10)

COMPOSITION AND Composition of raw young, green onions, bunching varieties, 100 grams (31/2 NUTR1TIONALVALUE ounces), edible portion is as follows: (1) bulb and entire top, water 89.4%; food energy 36 Calories; protein 1.5 grams; fat 0.2 g; carbohydrate 8.2 g. including 1.2 g fiber; ash 0.7 g.; calcium 51 milligrams; phosphorus 39 mg.; iron 1 mg.; sodium 5 mg.; potassium 231 mg.; vitamin A 2000 International Units (calculated); thiamine 0.05 mg.; riboflavin 0.05 mg.; niacin 0.4 mg.; ascorbic acid 32 mg. (2) bulb and white portion of top, water 87.6%; food energy 45 Calories; protein 1.1 gram; fat 0.2 g.; carbohydrate 10.5 g. including 1 g. fiber; ash 0.6 g.; calcium 40 milligrams; phosphorus 39 mg.; iron 0.6 mg.; sodium 5 mg.; phosphorus 231 mg.; vitamin A trace; thiamine 0.05 mg.; riboflavin 0.04 mg.; niacin 0.4 mg.; ascorbic acid 25 mg. (3) tops only (green portion) water 91.8%; food energy 27 Calories; protein 1.6 grams; fat 0.4 g.; carbohydrate 5.5 g. including 1.3 g. fiber; ash 0.7 g.; calcium 56 milligrams; phosphorus 39 mg.; iron 2.2 mg.; sodium 5 mg.; potassium 231 mg.; vitamin A 4,000 International Units; thiamine 0.07 mg.; riboflavin 0.10 mg.; niacin 0.6 mg.; and ascorbic acid 51 mg.

STORAGE AND TEMPERATURE "Green onions (scallions) and green shallots are highly perishable; hence they should be marketed as quickly as possible. They will keep a few days at 32¡F. Higher temperatures favor yellowing and decay of the leaves. Crushed ice spread over the onions aids in supplying moisture". (8) At home keep them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag or in the hydrator.

REFERENCES (1) Onions and Their Allies, Jones and Mann, World Crop Books, 1963;
(2) Climate, Yearbook of Agriculture, 1941. USDA;
(3) U.S. Census of Agriculture. 1969. Vol. II, Chapt. 6;
(4) Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Unload Totals For 41 Cities, calendar year 1972, USDA, April 1973,
(5) Dry Onions, Fruit and Vegetable Facts and Pointers, R.A. Seelig, UFFVA, 1970;
(6) U.S. Standards For Common Green Onions, effective 1947. USDA;
(7) Selection and Care of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, a consumer's guide, Seelig, Oct. 1971;
(8) The Commercial Storage of Fruits, Vegetables, and Florist and Nursery Stocks, Lutz and Hardenburg, Ag. Handbook 66, USDA, Oct. 1968;
(9) Supply Guide, fresh fruits and vegetables, Magoon, UFFVA, 1972;
(10) Sunblest Seed, catalog of Dessert Seed Co., E1 Centro, Calif., sixth edition;
(11) Onion Production in California, Glen N. Davis, Manual 22, California Agricultural Experiment Station, 1957;
(12) Composition of Foods, Watt and Merrill, USDA Agricultural Handbook 8, Dec. 1963;
(13) Containers Used in California For Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Federal State Market News Service, April 1972.

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Compiled for Food Resource http://food.oregonstate.edu