Pop Japan

Onions, a staple spice in most cooking, are tasty, spicy and aromatic, but one thing that is unpleasant about onions is its pungent fumes that can make you cry. Today, it's possible to find an onion that does not cause you to tear. House Foods Group, a Japanese company, managed to make a tear-free onion. According to their press release they used ions to irradiate onions. The process leads to the reduction of some enzymes that can cause a teary eye.

For years, researchers have been suspecting that the chemical alliinase was the behind the tear causing effects of onions. But they went beyond such suspicion since they also found that garlic also contains alliinase but it does not cause tears. Upon further research, the Japanese team found out that the real culprit behind the tear-jerking chemical was lachrymatory factor synthase which is an enzyme also found in garlic but in milder amounts.

Tags: Onion, vegetable, spice, plant, tear-free onion, japanese company, House Foods Group, lachrymatory factor synthase, enzymes, organic chemicals, tears