Why do onions make you cry? The answer starts the moment your knife goes in.
What is inside an onion?
An onion stores two harmless ingredients in separate tiny pockets. When your knife breaks those pockets, the two ingredients mix. Together, they make an invisible gas that floats up into the air. The more you chop, the more gas escapes.
Why do your eyes water?
The gas reaches your eyes and irritates the tiny nerves there. So your eyes make extra tears to wash it away.
How can you cry less?
Chill the onion first, and less gas floats up to your eyes. A sharp knife helps, too, because it crushes fewer pockets.
Is there a tearless onion?
Farmers even grow a special tearless onion called Sunions.
Sources
- Library of Congress, Everyday Mysteries: Why does chopping an onion make you cry?
- NPR: The Science Of Why Onions Make Us Cry
- American Academy of Ophthalmology: No More Tears
- All About Vision: All About Onions: Learn Why Onions Make You Cry and More
- ScienceABC: Why do onions make you cry?
- Science Times: Why Cutting Onions Makes You Cry
- Science News: These simple knife tricks stop onion tears
- Phys.org: Cutting technique and blade sharpness
- ScienceAlert: There's a Surprisingly Simple Way to Stop Crying Over Your Onions
- Science News Explores: Chopping an onion? Sharp knives can keep its juice out of your eyes
- Nautilus: No More Tears? Scientists Take a Keen Eye to Onion Slicing
- Wikipedia: Sunion
- The Produce News: Sunions back in season
- Onion World: S7210 variety
