Why onion makes you cry?!

Onion is one of the oldest vegetables known to human being.It’s an abundant source of nutrients, including vitamins B, C and G, protein, starch as well as compounds which have been said to be effective agents against fungal and bacterial growth; protecting against various cancers. In addition to that, it is used in a wide array of food preparations and recipes to add a specific flavor. Unless you've avoided cooking, you've probably cut up an onion and experienced the burning and tearing you get from the vapors. When you cut an onion, you break cells, releasing their contents. Amino acid sulfoxides form sulfenic acids. 

A sulfenic acid is an organosulfur compound and oxoacid with the general formula RSOH, where R ≠ H. It is the first member of the family of organosulfur oxoacids, which also include sulfinic acids and sulfonic acids, RSO2H and RSO3H, respectively. Sulfenic acids are produced by the enzymatic decomposition of alliin and related compounds following tissue damage to garlic, onions, and other plants of the Allium genus.

Cooking the onion inactivates the enzyme, so while the smell of cooked onions may be strong, it doesn't burn your eyes. Aside from wearing safety goggles or running a fan, you can keep from crying by refrigerating your onion before cutting it (slows reactions and changes the chemistry inside the onion) or by cutting the onion under water. The sulfur-containing compounds also leave a characteristic odor on your fingers. You may be able to remove or reduce some of the smell by wiping.

Or just a simple solution is to keep your head as far away from the onion as possible.

Onion possesses some medicinal properties, offering several health benefits. Onion is found to be effective to treat the medical conditions such as cold, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and other diseases. They contain the chemicals that are believed to have anti-cholesterol, anti-inflammatory, antioxidants and anticancer properties.

Citric Acid

Citric Acid

Citric acid is a weak organic acid. It is naturally found in citrus fruits. It easily mixes into liquids, making it a valuable acid. Lemons and limes have high concentrations of citric acid, accounting for their bitter taste. Oranges and tangerines are also high in citric acid, though lower than the more bitter citrus fruits. Citric acid can be added to ice cream as an emulsifying agent to keep fats from separating, to caramel to prevent sucrose crystallisation, or to recipes in place of fresh lemon juice.

Citric acid is used as a flavouring in many preparations of Vitamin C, and has a wide variety of other uses. In industry, citric acid can be used to make good “natural” cleaners. It is used to soften water. Citric acid is the active ingredient in some bathroom and kitchen cleaning solutions.

Citric acid is a normal component of human cells that is metabolised, degraded, and eliminated from the body. Also known as E330, it is one of the main ingredients in the food and beverage industry because it is easily obtained in large quantities, healthy and cheap. It is often used for proper mineral supplementation of food, as an acidity regulator, and as a flavor compound. Citric acid enhances the activity of many beneficial antioxidants, but is not, itself, an antioxidant.

Citric acid was first artificially produced in 1784 from lemon juice, by Karl Wilhelm Scheele. It is the most frequently used preservative in the world today. Citric acid also prevents the formation of kidney stones and ensures proper functioning of the kidneys. Citric acid's ability to chelate calcium and its alkalising properties make it useful as a method for preventing kidney stones. In the case of stained skin or freckles, the use of a cream rich in citric acid will have a depigmentation effect. Citric acid is known to have the ability to destroy bacteria, mold, viruses and rust, and therefore was used in the production of pesticides, fungicides and disinfectants solutions. It is used in the manufacture of medicinal products and in bio-technology industries. It is combined with sodium bicarbonate for medicines such as Alka-Seltzer.