MacAlpine Research Images Resources Contact Archive Work

MacAlpine Feedback

Please help settle an ongoing discussion in the apartmentlet. If a typical oninion (yellow,spanish etc) has sprouted (small green shoots) should it be used? Apartmentlet dweller A believes that an onion with sprouts is still an onion and that we eat green onions all the time which have sprouts by their very nature. Apartmentlet dweller B however, feels that complex sugars in the onion have likely been broken down and metabolized to support the growth of these new green shoots, thus affecting the taste. Also they just look mutant and who wants to eat bad looking vegetables? Thoughts?

I NEVER eat onions with green shoots. If that is the way we are intended to eat them, they would be sold that way in the grocery store. Besides, isn't it bizare to eat something that grew without extra nutrients or sunlight?

Taste it -- if you like it: eat it. if you don't like it: don't eat it.

god, it's clear that the tregetours of the world would never have survived too many rounds of natural selection ...

that said, i do what apartmentlet dweller A does. granted i've been accused before of eating too much greenery before. here's some information about onion development that may be helpful. And here's some more. The thrust of it, I think, is that onion's are a biennial plant. The first year they grow vegetatively, forming the edible bulb. The second year the bulb sprouts allowing the onion to bloom. The trick is to catch the bulbs before then and dry them out so they become dormant. The folds of an onion (which make up the bulb) are essentialy dehydrated leaves that get pushed out as new leaves form. All that said, it's still not clear to me what the consensus on eating sprouted bulbs but I think the gist of it is that even after the bulb has sprouted, the onion part is still edible, but the sprout is not.

I'll stick with dehydrated spinach myself.

Personally, I would not eat it. Commercialy available "green onions" are actually quite different from plain onions; the bulb is much smaller. Here's a tangential tip: when you buy green onions, slice off the bulb/root structures and plant them. This should provide you with free green onion leaves for at least two more rounds.

I truthfully tend toward A's habits. Especially after onions are cooked, it's probably difficult to detect a difference in taste. If the onions aren't cooked... well... someone co-inhabiting an apartment probably shouldn't be eating too many raw onions anyway!

Add a comment