Why do onions make your eyes water?!
I was cutting up onions and my eyes started watering, why does this happen!?Www@FoodAQ@Com
Answers:
When you slice through an onion, you break open a number of onion cells!. Some of these cells have enzymes inside of them, and when they are sliced open, the enzymes escape!. The enzymes then decompose some of the other substances that have escaped from sliced cells!. Some of these substances, amino acid sulfoxides, form sulfenic acids, which then quickly rearrange themselves into a volatile gas!.
The gas reaches your eyes and reacts with the water that keeps them moist!. This changes the chemical's form again, producing, among other things, a mild sulfuric acid, which irritates the eyes!. The nerve endings in your eyes are very sensitive and so they pick up on this irritation (this is why our eyes sting when we slice onions)!. The brain reacts by telling your tear ducts to produce more water, to dilute the irritating acid so the eyes are protected!. Your other reaction is probably to rub your eyes, but this will actually make the irritation a lot worse, of course, if you have onion juices all over your hands!.
Peeling the onion and then chilling it in the refrigerator before you slice it will minimize the release of gas somewhat, because the change in temperature alters the compounds in the onion!. Cooking an onion before you slice it will work also, for the same reason!. Another easy solution is to cut the onion under water or run the tap over it as you slice!.
Some people say if you hold a lemon, piece of bread or a sugar cube in your mouth, the food will absorb the gas before it reaches your eyes!. Breathing with your mouth, instead of your nose, might also help because as you inhale, you suck the gas in and as you exhale, you blow it away!. This keeps a lot of the gas from ever reaching your eyes!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
The gas reaches your eyes and reacts with the water that keeps them moist!. This changes the chemical's form again, producing, among other things, a mild sulfuric acid, which irritates the eyes!. The nerve endings in your eyes are very sensitive and so they pick up on this irritation (this is why our eyes sting when we slice onions)!. The brain reacts by telling your tear ducts to produce more water, to dilute the irritating acid so the eyes are protected!. Your other reaction is probably to rub your eyes, but this will actually make the irritation a lot worse, of course, if you have onion juices all over your hands!.
Peeling the onion and then chilling it in the refrigerator before you slice it will minimize the release of gas somewhat, because the change in temperature alters the compounds in the onion!. Cooking an onion before you slice it will work also, for the same reason!. Another easy solution is to cut the onion under water or run the tap over it as you slice!.
Some people say if you hold a lemon, piece of bread or a sugar cube in your mouth, the food will absorb the gas before it reaches your eyes!. Breathing with your mouth, instead of your nose, might also help because as you inhale, you suck the gas in and as you exhale, you blow it away!. This keeps a lot of the gas from ever reaching your eyes!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
It's the cells being split open and the chemical reaction that happens when those cells hit the air!. It makes our eyes react, yet another chemical reaction!. Cutting onions next to a lit gas burner stops the first chemical reaction, or running water!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
It's the smell but if you cut them under water or look at dark green it will help and it depends on the onion you buy sweet vildalia are the best and mildest for burning eyesWww@FoodAQ@Com
or, to stop then watering, bite on a metal spoon, i don't know why that works, but it does!!Www@FoodAQ@Com
I am not 100% sure but I think that it has something to do with the smell,!.Www@FoodAQ@Com