Onions are one of the most popular vegetables throughout the world and are available round the year. They come in various types—brown onions, white onions, red onions and spring onions. The more pungent varieties of onion possess the greatest concentration of health-promoting phytochemicals.
The nutrient content
The versatile onion comes from the same family as garlic and chives—the lily family, which has a high content of sulphur compounds [cysteine sulfoxides]. These compounds are responsible for the pungent smell and taste, and the tear-inducing quality of onions.
Onions are an excellent source of chromium [a micro-mineral that affects the action of the insulin]. One cup of raw onion contains over 20 per cent of the daily value for this important trace mineral.