Common Name: Onion

Scientific Name: Allium cepa

Vernacular names
Onoin, common onion,bulb onion (En). Oignon (Fr).
Burunei: bawang besar
Indonesia: bawang Bombay
Malaysia: bawang besar
Papua New Guinea: anian
Philippines: sibuyas (tagalong)
sibulyas (Ilocano)
suliyas (Ivatan)
Cambodia: khtüm barang’
Laos: bwàx fàlangx
Thailand: hom-yai(Central)
hom-huayai(peninsular)
Vietnam: h[af]nh c[ur], h[af]nh t[aa]y
INTRODUCTION

The ancestral group of Allium cepa is considered to include Allium chaninii O.

Fedtschenko and its allies Allium praemixtum Vved. and Allium vavilovii M. Popov and
Vved. The current natural distribution of this. Allium oschaninii complex indicates that
domestication of Allium cepa probably started within contemporary Tadzhikistan,
Afghanistan and Iran. Southern-western Asia can be acknowledged as the priomary gene
center of variability. The earliest onion depiction originated in Egypt and date back at
2700 BC; consequently, domestication must have begun much earlier.

Onion is introduced into western and northern Europe by the Romans about 300
AD. It became widespread in Europe during the Middle Ages and was introduced to the
Americans by Columbus. It probably reached Japan in the 19th century from the United
States. It is almost impossible to trace its introduction to the tropics. Onions probably
entered tropical East Africa from Egypt or India. Nowadays onion is cultivated almost
worldwide at latitudes between 5-60º in both hemispheres. Onion growing is common in
the Philippines and of some importance in Papua New Guinea and Thailand, but rare in
the rest of South-East Asia. In Indonesia, Malaysia and other areas close to the equator, it
is a difficult crop to grow, because of the troublesome storage of sowing seed, the rain
damage to the nursery and the difficulty of producing healthy seed locally. Probably for
that reason, vegetative propagated shallots have become popular vegetables. Some shallot
cultivars resemble small onions, but recently all vegetative propagated onion and shallot
types have been lumped together in the cv. Group Aggregatum here, only the seed-
propagated Common Onion group is described.

The main characteristic of onion and other Allium crops is their pungency, and
because of this they are probably the most indispensable culinary ingredient in the world.
In general, they are used for salad, pickling, cooking, etc. In South-East Asia onions are
normally eaten in cooked dishes like bakmi(noodle with meat). Onion also plays an
important role in traditional medicine. Recently its role in suppressing both the blood
sugar level and platelet aggregation was revealed.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION