ABSTRACT
Onions are widely used in all parts of the world as a flavoring vegetable in various types of food. According to traditional medical literature, they are a source of many vitamins and are useful in fever, dropsy, cattarrh, and chronic bronchitis, mixed with common salt, onions are a domestic remedy in colic and scurvy. Roasted onions mixed with cumin, sugar candy, and butter oil are a demulcent of great benefit in piles. Fresh onion juice is moderately bactericidal because of the action of allicin-type compounds. The hypoglycemic action of onion extract was reported for the first time by J. B. Collip just after the discovery of insulin. The lipid-lowering effects of onion and garlic extracts were first reported by K. T. Augusti and P. T. Mathew. The inhibitory effects of an ethanolic extract of onions on allergic skin reactions in man as well as on allergen-induced bronchial asthma in man and guinea pigs have been shown.
