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The fascinating reason why onions make us cry
Ever chopped up an onion to have tears streaming down your face? Most of us regularly find ourselves in that uncomfortable situation, but there’s no way we’re ditching onions any time soon.
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Red onions on a wooden board. (Shutterstock/GoncharukMaks)
E
ver chopped up an onion to have tears streaming down your face? Most of us regularly find ourselves in that uncomfortable situation, but there’s no way we’re ditching onions any time soon. Onions pull the flavors of most dishes together, whether it’s raw, caramelised or baked. It adds a touch of savory sweetness that most dishes cannot go without.
But why do onions make us cry?
According to Reader’s Digest, this question has warranted its own Library of Congress web page, so there are many of us out there who are burning for an explanation.
Here’s the science behind why humans tear up when chopping up onions.
Reader’s Digest simply lays out the Congress Library’s answer that onions have unstable chemicals. It’s taken a while for the experts to pinpoint the precise unstable chemical responsible for making us cry, and the most recent development came about 17 years ago.
The original culprit is alliinase, an enzyme also found in garlic. However, most of us know that garlic does not make us cry the same way onions do.
The theory behind it? Onions carry two chemicals: syn-Propanethial-S-oxide, an irritant that stimulates the eyes’ lacrimal glands, which release tears; and lachrymatory-factor synthase. The latter chemical is a lesser-known enzyme discovered in several Japanese studies in 2002, and it’s the one that’s making you cry.
Read also: Shiseido finds 'stress smell' similar to green onion
To make it a little more confusing, the Library of Congress outlined the chemical process, as follows:
1. Lachrymatory-factor synthase is released into the air when we cut an onion.
2. The synthase enzyme converts the amino acid sulfoxides of the onion into sulfenic acid.
3. The unstable sulfenic acid rearranges itself into syn-Propanthial-S-oxide.
4. Syn-Propanthial-S-oxide gets into the air and comes into contact with our eyes. The lacrimal glands become irritated and produce the tears!
Less-sharp knives cause these irritants to be released at a greater volume, making you cry even more, as more of the onion's cell wall becomes damaged and the onion releases more chemicals. A sharp knife will do less cell damage to the onion, so fewer chemicals are released.
So, for less tears during your next onion-chopping experience, a sharper knife is the way to go!
