Allium cepa

Scientific name: Allium cepa L.

Synonym: Allium cepa var. aggregatum G. Don

Botanical family: AMARYLLIDACEAE

Vernacular names

(In territories with significant traditional TRAMIL use)

Dominican Republic:

cebollín

Haiti:

zechalot

Other vernacular names

Cuba:

Cebolla
cebolla blanca
Cebolla morada

Dominican Republic:

Cebolla

Guadeloupe:

oignon

Geographical distribution

Native to western Asia, it is widely cultivated around the world.

Botanical description

Bulbiferous herb with scales, dividing bulbs of up to 10 cm in diameter, tunicated. Basal leaves, up to 40 cm, hollow, semicircular in cross section. Scape of up to 60 cm in height. Abundant purple or almost white flowers, grouped in a large spherical umbel, with 2 to 3 bracts. Capsular fruit. Rarely produces seeds.

Voucher(s)

Germosén-Robineau,125,JBSD

Boulogne,TH1,UAG

lung disease

bulb*, fresh juice, taken orally¹
bulb*, macerated in water, applied locally²

*the variety used is A. var. aggregatum G. Don

sores (oral candidiasis)

bulb*, maceration in water, local application²

cold

bulb, decoction, taken orally,
bulb, juice with sugar (“syrup”), taken orally³

The bulbs of Allium cepa var. cepa and Allium cepa var. aggregatum constitute a food of widespread human consumption.

For lung disease:
Chop up 1 to 3 bulbs, crush them in a mortar and squeeze them in a cloth or with a teaspoon moving it round in a hand sieve. Mix 1-2 spoonfuls (15 to 30 millilitres) of juice with bee honey. Take on an empty
stomach daily for 3 weeks.

For cold, flu:
prepare a decoction with 1 bulb in 2 cups (½ litre) of water, boil for 10 minutes in an covered vessel. Leave to cool, strain (filter) and drink 1 cup 3 times a day. Or prepare a “syrup” by cutting 1 bulb, mix 3 spoonfuls of
sugar, leave it to rest for several hours, filter with a cloth or a fine sieve and take one spoonful 3 times a day until the symptoms disappear.

For sores (candidiasis bucal):
chop up 100 grams of bulb and add to 2 cups (½ litre) of boiled water, leave to macerate for 12 hours and apply with a dropper or 5-millilitre teaspoon 3 times a day for 5 days.

Preparations must never be stored for more than 24 hours, even if refrigerated.

According to the information available:

The use for lung disease, cold and flu is classified as REC based on the significant traditional use documented in the TRAMIL surveys and the scientific information published.

If deterioration is observed in the patient or the symptoms persist for more than 7 days, seek medical attention.

Due to the health risk of lung disease, an initial medical
assessment is recommended. The use of this resource must be considered complementary to medical treatment, unless contraindicated.

It has been recommended that onions (Allium cepa) should only be used in limited quantities because they contain allyl sulfoxides and other related sulfoxides that inhibit enzymes with thiol groups⁴.

The use for sores (oral candidiasis) infections is classified as REC based on the significant traditional use documented in the TRAMIL surveys and the scientific information published.

All topical application must follow strict hygiene measures in order to prevent contamination or additional infection.

Not for use during pregnancy, breastfeeding or in children under 3 years.

The fresh bulb and its aqueous and ethanolic extracts were not mutagenic in the Salmonella typhimurium TA98 model^17-18.

The aqueous extract of the fresh bulb, (500 mg/kg) orally in female rats did not cause signs toxicity¹⁹.

The bulb (1 kg/day) orally to 18 heifers produced signs of toxicity after 5 days (lack of appetite, tachycardia, cardiovascular collapse, conjunctival redness, haemoglobinuria, haemolytic anaemia and leukocytosis); this was reversible in 17 of the subjects and led to death in one²⁰.

The ingestion of 150 g of bulb cake (89.7 mg quercetin) plus 300 ml of black tea (1.4 mg quercetin) by 20 women and 16 men volunteers for 14 days to assess the effect of dietary flavonoids, primarily quercetin, showed no significant DNA damage in the peripheral lymphocyte model²¹.

Adverse reactions such as rhinitis, conjunctivitis and contact dermatitis have been reported^22-23.

There is no information available documenting the safety of medicinal use in children, during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

The bulb has been widely studied and contains among other components, essential oil: mainly thiosulfinates⁵; sulfur compounds: allicin, ajoene⁶, allyl methyl disulfide and derivatives, prop-1-ene-1-thiol and derivatives⁷; flavonoids: chrysanthemin, cyanidin and glycosidic derivatives, glycosylated peonidin and derivatives⁸, pelargonidin⁹, quercetin¹⁰.

The aqueous extract of the fresh bulb, in vitro by the agar dilution method, inhibited the growth of Candida albicans and other Candida sp. as well as 35 strains of various dermatophytes dose dependently¹¹.

The aqueous extract of the entire fresh plant (0.3 ml/well) in vitro inhibited the growth of Proteus mirabilis and Staphylococcus aureus, but not Klebsiella pneumoniae. It also inhibited Aspergillus fumigatus, A. niger and Candida albicans¹².

The ethanolic bulb extract (95%), in the isolated guinea pig trachea model, inhibited histamine- and carbachol-induced tracheal muscle contraction; in isolated guinea pig ileum (0.4 mg/ml) it antagonised contractions caused by histamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine¹³.

The juice and ether extract from the bulb (100 mg/kg)
administered orally to guinea pigs produced an antiasthmatic effect when an attack was triggered by allergens and platelet-activating factor, but not when induced by histamine or acetylcholine^14-15.

The ethanolic extract (95%) of the bulb (0.5 g/person),
administered orally to 300 adult asthmatics of both sexes, showed antiasthmatic activity¹³.

The ethanolic extract (95%) of the bulb inhaled in adult humans inhibited bronchoconstriction induced by inhaled allergens¹⁶.

Pharmacopoeia

Ed.3

References

1 GERMOSEN-ROBINEAU L, GERONIMO M, AMPARO C, 1984
Encuesta TRAMIL. enda-caribe, Santo Domingo, Rep. Dominicana.

2 WENIGER B, ROUZIER M, 1986
Enquête TRAMIL. Service Oecuménique d’Entraide SOE, Port au Prince, Haïti.

3 BOULOGNE I, 2009
Enquête TRAMIL, (Terre-de-Bas et Terre-de-Haut) Les Saintes, UAG, Guadeloupe (FWI).

4 AUGUST KT, 1996
Therapeutic values of onion (Allium cepa L.) and garlic (Allium sativum L.). Indian J of Experimental Biology
34(7):634640.

5 BLOCK E, NAGANATHAN S, PUTMAN D, ZHAO SH, 1992
Allium chemistry: HPLC analysis of thiosulfinates from onion, garlic, wild garlic (ramsoms), leek, scallion, shallot,
elephant (great-headed) garlic, chive, and Chinese chive. Uniquely high allyl to methyl ratios in some garlic samples. J Agr Food Chem 40(12):2418-2430.

6 WU JB, CHENG YD, HUANG SC, CHANG KH, HSIEH MT, 1992
Quantitative determination of active compounds in Allium genus (Liliaceae) by HPLC. China Med Coll J 1(2):123-
128.

7 TOKITOMO Y, KOBAYASHI A, 1992
Isolation of the volatile components of fresh onion by thermal desorption cold trap capillary gas chromatography. Biosci Biotech Biochem 56(11):1865-1866.

8 DONNER H, GAO L, MAZZA G, 1997
Separation and characterization of simple and malonylated anthocyanins in red onions, Allium cepa L. Food Res Int 30(8):647-643.

9 FULEKI T, 1969
The anthocyanins of strawberry, rhubarb, radish and onion. J Food Sci 34(4):365-369.

10 PATIL BS, PIKE LM, YOO KS, 1995
Variation in the quercetin content in different colored onions (Allium cepa L.). J Amer Soc Hort Sci 120(6):909-
913.

11 SHAMS-GHAHFAROKHI M, SHOKOOHAMIRI MR, AMIRRAJAB N, MOGHADASI B, GHAJARI A, ZEINI
F, SADEGHI G, RAZZAGHI-ABYANEH M, 2006
In vitro antifungal activities of Allium cepa, Allium sativum and ketoconazole against some pathogenic yeasts and
dermatophytes. Fitoterapia 77:321–323.

12 SRINIVASAN D, NATHAN S, SURESH T, PERUMALSAMY PL, 2001
Antimicrobial activity of certain Indian medicinal plants used in folkloric medicine. J Ethnopharmacol 74(3):217-
220.

13 SHARMA KC, SHANMUGASUNDRAM SSK, 1979
Allium cepa as an antiasthmatic. RRL Jammu Newsletter 6(2):8.

14 DORSCH W, ETTL M, HEIN G, SCHEFTNER P, WEBER J, BAYER T, WAGNER H, 1987
Antiasthmatic effects of onion. Inhibition of platelet-activating factor-induced bronchial obstruction by onion oils. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol 82(3/4):535-536.

15 DORSCH W, ADAM O, WEBER J, ZIEGELTRUM T, 1985
Antiasthmatic effects of onion extracts -detection of benzyland other isothiocyanates (mustard oil) as antiasthmatic compounds of plant origin. Eur J Pharmacol 107(1):17-24.

16 DORSCH W, WAGNER H, 1991
New antiasthmatic drugs from traditional medicine? Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol 94(1/2):262-265.

17 ROCKWELL P, RAW I, 1979
A mutagenic screening of various herbs spices and food additives. Nutrition and Cancer 1(4):10-16.

18 MAHMOUD II, ALKOFANI AS, ABDELAZIZ AA, 1992
Mutagenic and toxic activities of several spices and some Jordanian medicinal plants. Int J Pharmacog 30(2):81-85.

19 THOMSON M, ALNAQEEB MA, BORDIA T, AL-HASSAN JM, AFZAL M, ALI M, 1998
Effects of aqueous extract of onion on the liver and lung of rats. J Ethnopharmacol 61(2):91-99.

20 VERHOEFF J, HAJER R, VAN DEN INGH TS, 1985
Onion poisoning of young cattle. Vet Rec 117(19):497-498.

21 BEATTY ER, O’REILLY JD, ENGLAND TG, MCANLIS GT, YOUNG IS, GEISSLER CA, SANDERS TA,
WISEMAN H, 2000
Effect of dietary quercetin on oxidative DNA damage in healthy human subjects. Br J Nutr 84(6):919-925.

22 GRUENWALD J, BRENDLER T, JAENICKE C, 2004
Physicians’ Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines, Third Edition. Montvale, NJ, USA: Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
988pp.

23 VALDIVIESO R, SUBIZA J, VARELA-LOSADA S, SUBIZA JL, NARGANES MJ, MARTINEZ-COCERA C,
CABRERA M, 1994
Bronchial asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, and contact dermatitis caused by onion. J of Allergy Clin Immunol
94(5):928-930.

Disclaimer

The information provided is for educational purposes only for the benefit of the general public and health professionals. It is not intended to take the place of either the written law or regulations. Since some parts of plants could be toxic, might induce side effects, or might have interactions with certain drugs, anyone intending to use them or their products must first consult with a physician or another qualified health care professional. TRAMIL has no responsibility whatsoever towards the user for any decision, action or omission made in relation to the information contained in this Pharmacopoeia.

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Allium cepa

Vernacular names

Dominican Republic:

Haiti:

Cuba:

Dominican Republic:

Guadeloupe:

Geographical distribution

Botanical description

Voucher(s)

Pharmacopoeia

References

Disclaimer