Special features: Onions are a cold-season crop, easy to grow because of their hardiness.

Culinary use: In foods, onion is used in many recipes.

Medicinal use: Onion is used for treating digestion problems including loss of appetite, upset stomach, and gallbladder disorders; for treating heart and blood vessel problems including chest pain (angina) and high blood pressure; and for preventing “hardening of the arteries” (atherosclerosis). It is also used for treating sore mouth and throat, whooping cough, bronchitis, asthma, dehydration, intestinal gas, parasitic worms, and diabetes. Some people use it as a diuretic to increase urine output.

Onion is applied directly to the skin for insect bites, wounds, light burns, boils, warts, and bruises.