10 facts about the onion

Onions, everyone knows onions. Characteristic for their strong taste and smell. The onion belongs to the garlic family together with the garlic, the leek and the shallot. Onions are real seasonings, but can also be found in the stew, as a base for soup or on the barbecue. For example in the form of a shashlik.

Anyway, in the Netherlands we come across this wonderful product enough. Now almost everyone knows that most people start crying when cutting an onion, but did you know that you can fight all sorts of ailments with onions? No? Nice! Here you can read 10 facts about the onion that you probably did not know:

1. In China, people put onions in their socks while sleeping to combat diseases and ailments. The onion seems to have a healing effect against colds, bladder infections, pain on the teeth and ear pain.
2. Onions can be used as a polish. Sounds crazy, but it is really true! Onions are full of natural oils. Cut an onion in half and rub it over your leather shoe. They will shine like never before. An additional advantage is that the onion smell just does not linger but simply dissolves.
3. Make sure you cut onions underwater or under a running tap. In this way the gas in the onion reacts with the water and not directly with the eye fluid in your eye. This prevents watery eyes.
4. Onions are one of the oldest vegetables. The pyramid builders from ancient Egypt were already familiar with this bulbous plant. The Egyptians used onions as an offering to the Nile gods.
5. Onions love darkness. Because no sun enters the room, the temperature and the humidity level remain the same. These factors can cause the onions to become bad quickly.
6. Over 450 semi-truck loads of onions are eaten every single day!
7. Onions can improve your mood and sleep. An onion is richly filled with folic acid. Folic acid ensures that blood flow to the brain is promoted.
8. Onions can also help with insect bites. It is important to immediately wash the wound with cold water after a bite. Then you put a piece of onion on it and the vapors that are released here ensure that the poison pulls out of the skin.
9. The heaviest onion ever weighed had a total weight of more than 8.1 kg.
10. By eating parsley, you neutralize the bad breath after eating onion.

Did you also know that about 2% of the Dutch agricultural area is used for the production of onions. You can read more facts about Dutch onion cultivation here. There are also many different types of onions. More than you might think! Curious as to which types of Westhoeve can supply, click here.

Want to know more about our onion export?

We are happy to work with you and provide you with any information you need without any obligation. Call us via telephone number +31 (0) 187 68 31 37 or send us your question via our contact form.