365 Days of Learning: My Quest To Uncovering One Fact a Day - DAY 1.
Learning something new, can expand your perspective on how little you knew
I begin the journey of providing new pieces of information that I learn every day. Why you may ask? because of a list of reasons
- To improve retaining information by applying the knowledge
- To improve my ability to digest information and deliver it in a coherent, informative and hopefully engaging way.
- Encouraging myself to constantly learn and never be in a position where I am stagnant in my learning
- Deepens conversations that I have been people
So it begins Day 1.
You begin to cut the onion and Your eyes start tearing up.
This a common scenario for many cooks. Such a simple task but difficult to not cry when cutting onions.
What can be responsible for such a horrible crime?
Onions are fascinating plants when the seed is planted into the soil to produce a mature onion. Just like many animals and things in nature, onions have a defence mechanism to protect themselves.
When the onions are sliced, they cause the enzyme alliinase which reacts with sulphur oxides in the onion to produce syn-propanethial-S-oxide.
It is a volatile gas, meaning it can evaporate from a liquid to a gas quickly. Once this moisture evaporates in the air, it can reach your eyes it causes irritant that causes the eyes to fill with tears without damaging them. Propanethial S-oxide is referred to as a lachrymator, for its ability to irritate the eye causing tears.
This activates the lachrymal gland in your eyes that responds to danger and produces tears as a defence mechanism to dilute the irritant, washing it away from your eyes.
So the crying from the onions ultimately is from the body’s natural defence mechanism when the onion releases a volatile gas to irritate our eyes and requires to be washed away.
Hope that was beneficial and learned something new. Hope this does encourage you to be more actively involved in your learning.
