Editing Onion (section)

==History==

[[File:An onion, woodcut, 1547 Wellcome L0029214.jpg|thumb|upright|Medieval woodcut print of an onion, from ''[[Hortus Sanitatis]]'' (1547)]]

Humans have grown and selectively bred onions in cultivation for at least 7,000 years.<ref>{{cite book |last=Anastassakis |first=Konstantinos |chapter=Allium Cepa (Red Onion) |date=2022 |title=Androgenetic Alopecia From A to Z |pages=465–469 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-031-08057-9_54 |access-date=2024-06-06 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-08057-9_54 |isbn=978-3-031-08056-2}}</ref> The geographic origin of the onion is uncertain; ancient records of onion use span both [[Eastern Asia|eastern]] and [[Western Asia|western]] Asia.<ref name="cumo">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqfACQAAQBAJ&pg=PA248 |title=Onion. In: Foods that Changed History: How Foods Shaped Civilization from the Ancient World to the Present |last=Cumo |first=C.E. |publisher=ABC-CLIO LLC (American Bibliographic Center, CLIO Press) |year=2015 |pages=248–250 |isbn=9781440835377 |access-date=30 June 2020 |archive-date=4 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204030543/https://books.google.com/books?id=WqfACQAAQBAJ&pg=PA248 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ansari">{{Cite journal |last=Ansari |first=Naser Alemzadeh |year=2007 |title=Onion Cultivation and Production in Iran |url=http://www.globalsciencebooks.info/Online/GSBOnline/images/0712/MERJPSB_1(1&2)/MERJPSB_1(2)26-38o.pdf |journal=Middle Eastern and Russian Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=26–38 |quote=Onion originated in Iran and its neighboring countries (Hanelt 1990). |via=Global Science Books |access-date=22 April 2022 |archive-date=28 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828162151/http://www.globalsciencebooks.info/Online/GSBOnline/images/0712/MERJPSB_1%281%262%29/MERJPSB_1%282%2926-38o.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Domestication likely took place in [[West Asia|West]] or [[Central Asia]].{{sfn|Fritsch|2002|pp=20–21}}<ref name=NOA>{{cite web |url=https://www.onions-usa.org/all-about-onions/history-of-onions |title=History of onions |publisher=US National Onion Association, Greeley, CO |date=2011 |access-date=23 January 2017 |archive-date=24 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170624120840/https://www.onions-usa.org/all-about-onions/history-of-onions |url-status=live }}</ref> Onions have been variously described as having originated in [[Iran]], western [[Pakistan]] and [[Central Asia]].<ref name=cumo/>{{r|NOA|p=1|quote=Many archaeologists, botanists, and food historians believe onions originated in central Asia. Other research suggests onions were first grown in Iran and West Pakistan.}}<ref name=ansari/><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6AB89RHV9ucC |title=Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science |last=Block |first=Eric |date=2010 |publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry |isbn=9780854041909 |pages=5–6 |access-date=30 June 2020 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801202704/https://books.google.com/books?id=6AB89RHV9ucC |url-status=live }}</ref> The onion species ''[[Allium fistulosum]]'' (spring onion, bunching onion) and ''[[Allium tuberosum]]'' (Chinese leek) were domesticated in China around 6000 BC<!--8000 years ago--> alongside other vegetables, grains, and fruits.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Veeck |first1=Gregory |last2=Pannell |first2=Clifton W. |title=China's Geography |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Boulder, New York, London |isbn=9781538140796 |page=235 |edition=4th |chapter=9. Agriculture: From Antiquity to Revolution to Reform. Early Farming Traditions|date=2021 }}</ref>

Recipes using onions and other ''Allium'' species were recorded in [[cuneiform]] script on clay tablets in [[ancient Mesopotamia]], around 2000 BC<!--4000 years ago-->; the tablets are held in [[Yale University]]'s [[Babylonia]]n collection.<ref name="BBC onion"/> The [[Assyriologist]] and "gourmet cook"<ref name="BBC onion"/> Jean Bottero stated this was "a cuisine of striking richness, refinement, sophistication and artistry".<ref name="BBC onion">{{cite web |title=Three cheers for the onion |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30549150 |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=14 October 2024 |date=4 January 2015}}</ref>

[[Ancient Egypt]]ians revered the onion bulb, viewing its spherical shape and concentric rings as symbols of eternal life.<ref name=NOA/> Onions were used in Egyptian burials, as evidenced by onion traces found in the eye sockets of [[Ramesses IV]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Abdel-Maksouda, Gomaa |author2=El-Aminb, Abdel-Rahman |year=2011 |title=A review on the materials used during the mummification process in ancient Egypt |journal=Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=129–150 |url=http://www.maajournal.com/Issues/2011/pdf/Maksoud.pdf |access-date=13 September 2013 |archive-date=8 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308070536/http://www.maajournal.com/Issues/2011/pdf/Maksoud.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Pliny the Elder]] of the first century AD wrote about the use of onions and cabbage in [[Pompeii]]. He documented Roman beliefs about the onion's ability to improve ocular ailments, aid in sleep, and heal everything from oral sores and toothaches to dog bites, [[lumbago]], and even [[dysentery]]. Archaeologists unearthing Pompeii long after [[Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD|its 79 AD volcanic burial]] have found gardens resembling those in Pliny's detailed narratives. According to texts collected in the fifth/sixth century AD under the authorial aegis of "Apicius" (said to have been a [[gourmet]]), onions were used in many Roman recipes.<ref name=NOA/>

In the [[Age of Discovery]], onions were taken to [[North America]] by the first European settlers in part of the [[Columbian exchange]]. They found close relatives of the plant such as ''[[Allium tricoccum]]'' readily available and widely used in [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] gastronomy.<ref name=cumo/> According to diaries kept by some of the first English colonists, the bulb onion was one of the first crops planted in North America by the [[Pilgrim fathers]].<ref name="NOA"/> Between 1883 and 1939, inventors in the United States patented 97 inventions meant to make onion-growing more efficient through automation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gripshover |first1=Margaret M. |first2=Thomas L. |last2=Bell |title=Patently Good Ideas: Innovations and Inventions in U.S. Onion Farming, 1883–1939 |journal=Material Culture |date=Spring 2012 |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=1–30 |jstor=23145818}}</ref>