Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Onion (Allium cepa), of the Amaryllidaceae (Alliaceae; formerly Liliaceae) family. Biennial bulb of concentric fleshy scales under a papery skin; native range: Central and Southwest Asia; cultivated worldwide since antiquity. Globally recognized as palandu / durgandha in Sanskrit, pyaz in Hindi, basal (بصل) in Arabic, and common onion · bulb onion in English. The part used is bulb, expressed juice, seed. Crisp and watery, sweetish when cooked but sharply pungent and lachrymatory raw, the cut bulb stinging the eyes with its volatile sulphur.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
ONION
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Onion
- Scientific name
- Allium cepa L.
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae (Alliaceae; formerly Liliaceae)
Form
- Part used
- bulb, expressed juice, seed
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent · sweet (katu , madhura — sweeter and milder than garlic)
- Western
- pungent · sweet, acrid
- Unani
- pungent · sweet, acrid
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna, moderately)
- Western
- hot
- Unani
- hot & moist (2nd–3rd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- circulation · lungs · digestion · kidneys
- Unani
- stomach · brain · kidneys · uterus
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- vata-hara, dipana (digestive), vrishya (aphrodisiac), balya (strengthening), hridya (cardiac); the cooked bulb nidrajanana (sleep-giving)
- Western
- diuretic, expectorant, hypoglycaemic, hypotensive, antiseptic, rubefacient (poultice)
- Unani
- muharrik (stimulant), mudirr-e-baul (diuretic), munaffis (expectorant), bahi (aphrodisiac), jali (detergent)
Cautions
Contraindications: high pitta, acidity and heartburn; raw excess in inflammatory states
Toxicity: raw excess causes flatulence, heartburn and dulls the senses (held to raise tamas)
Interactions
- Western
- antidiabetic agents: additive glucose lowering with large medicinal doses · anticoagulants: mild additive antiplatelet effect
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