• Syn-Propanethial-S-oxide (or S-oxide) is the chemical that is released into the air when you cut through an onion.
• S-oxide is a lachrymatory gas. This means that it is a gas that makes you tear up.
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Chopping onions can be a nightmare to many. This is because many end up shedding tears while doing so.
So what causes the tearing up? Syn-Propanethial-S-oxide (or S-oxide), a chemical that is released into the air when you cut through an onion, stimulates the eyes' lachrymal glands so they release tears.
A terrifying fact is that the S-oxide chemical produced by the onions is in fact similar to tear gas.
We all want to cut onions easily without shedding tears all the time.
A way to prevent the gas produced by the onions from making you tear up is to refrigerate or freeze the onions before chopping them.
This does not mean that you store onions in the fridge or the freezer. If they are stored for too long they will turn soggy and also produce an unpleasant disorder.
Putting them in the fridge/freezer should be done when you actually need to cook them. The science behind this is that gases move slowly at low temperatures.
The s-oxide is definitely still in the onion, however, it is moving a bit slower.
Another way to prevent one from crying when cutting up onions is by soaking the onions in warm water or ice cold water.
This method however should be done in a very short duration and should be done to the full onion bulb before cutting them up into small pieces.
Soaking the onions for too long will reduce their flavour, therefore, one needs to be conscious about the soaking time.
However, if you would like the onions for your salad, then you could extend the soaking period.
Another way is wearing protective gear around your eyes especially if you are slicing a huge amount of onions.
Glasses or clear eye goggles can come in handy to prevent the gases from reaching your eyes.
Using a sharper knife as opposed to a blunt knife will also reduce the amount of S-oxide being released by the onion.
All in all, onions are somehow worth shedding a tear for since they give our meals exemplary taste.
If you think about it, tearing up once in a while for the sake of onions is somehow worth it.