Why do onions make you cry?
Onions Make Cry
The reason why onions make us cry-
When you cut an onion, your eyes may burn, and tears may flow down your cheeks.
Onions contain syn-Propanethial-S-oxide, a chemical irritant that makes people cry when cutting the onion. Lachrymal glands in the eyes are activated, causing them to produce tears. The enzyme alliinase was once blamed by scientists for the instability of substances in a cut onion. However, recent Japanese research has shown that lachrymatory-factor synthase (a previously unknown enzyme) is to blame (Imani et al., 2002).
The process is-
1) When we cut an onion, lachrymatory-factor synthase is released into the air.
2) Sulfenic acid is generated by the synthase enzyme, which transforms the onion’s amino acids sulfoxides into sulfenic acid.
3) Syn-Propanethial-S-oxide is formed when the unstable sulfenic acid rearranges.
4) Syn-Propanethial-S-oxide floats about in the air and lands in our eyes. The tears are produced when the lacrimal glands become irritated.
– Written By Mahima
