The odd flower

The blooming of onions, unlike in other crops, does not always bring cheer to farmers. Once the plant sends up a flower stalk, usually around winters, the bulb, which is its commercially important part, stops growing. As a precautionary measure, farmers snip the flower stalks, which are then used as a vegetable.

The flower stalks of onion (Allium cepa) are, however, not easily available in urban vegetable markets and so command a high price. I recently purchased about 200 g of the stalks for Rs 30 from Chittaranjan Park market in south Delhi. The market caters to the Bengali community, who are particularly fond of the vegetable and refer to it as peyaj koli. One of their favourite recipes is the quick stir-fried stalks (see recipe).

Though more pungent than the leaves of the green or spring onion, the flower stalks of onion have a mild flavour when compared with the bulbs. Many, therefore, prefer using the flower stalks in soups and salads. The buds at the tip are usually discarded, but they too have a distinct onion-like aroma and can be infused in oil and vinegar to be used as a condiment.

Though the centre of origin of onion is not known for sure, it is believed to have originated somewhere in Central Asia 5,000 years ago. The word peyaz comes from the Persian language. The maximum diversity of Allium species is found in a belt from the Mediterranean basin to Iran and Afghanistan, suggesting that this is the primary centre of origin.

The onion bulbs appear as carvings on pyramid walls and in tombs from the third and fourth dynasties (2700 BC). It is believed that Egyptians worshiped onions, which according to them symbolised eternal life, and often buried them with the mummies. Archeologists have discovered small onions in the eye sockets of the mummy of King Ramses IV who died in 1160 BC. Onion bulbs were also found in the tomb of the Egyptian boy king, Tutankhamun.

Ancient Greek athletes consumed large quantities of the bulbs, which are actually modified stems with fleshy leaves, to improve their prowess. Romans also consumed onions regularly and rubbed them on the gladiators to tone their muscles. Julia Child, an American chef who took French cuisine to the US, once pointed out that “it is hard to imagine a civilisation without onions”.

Despite a history of use as food, not much is known about the nutritional benefits of onion flower stalks. In March 2023, researchers from Spain and Portugal published an elaborate study in the journal Antioxidants on the bioactive compounds of the flower.

The team prepared the polyphenolic profile of the flower and for the first time isolated two bioactive compounds like kaempferol (which has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, cardiovascular, and neuroprotective properties) and isorhamnetin glucosides (that protect cardiovascular cells against inflammation, oxidative damage and apoptosis). The researchers have found that the flower extracts, obtained by mixing fresh onion flowers with ethanol, reduced fat accumulation in animal models. This demonstrates the antioxidant and anti-obesity activity of onion flowers and their potential use as functional foods and nutraceuticals.

Another group of researchers have reported in the September 2021 issue of Chemosphere that onion seeds can also help remove heavy metals from water. They tested onion seed biomass against heavy metals chromium, cadmium, zinc, copper and lead, and found that the seeds were more suited for removing lead, copper and cadmium than zinc and chromium.

My first encounter with the flower was in school where the buds are used to study the process of meiosis—a type of cell division in sexually reproducing organisms to reduce the number of chromosomes in gametes or reproductive cells. This could be the reason I like the flower stalk more for its ornamental value than food. When the bud matures, it opens like a ball of white florets and can be used as cut flowers. That is what I do with a sprig or two when I buy this green vegetable.

This was first published in the 16-31 December, 2023 print edition of Down To Earth

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