Allium cepa / Ui, Ajuin

Allium cepa

Een gedeelte van de monografie over Allium cepa uit het cursusboek van herboristenopleiding 'Dodonaeus'

Materia Medica; gebruikte delen 

Samenstelling, inhoudsstoffen 

Farmacologie, algemene werking 

Enkele wetenschappelijke onderzoeken / links PubMed

Traditional and modern uses of onion bulb ( Allium cepa L.): a systematic review. 

Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2019;59(sup1):S39-S70. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2018.1499074. Epub 2018 Oct 4.

Joaheer D Teshika 1, Aumeeruddy M Zakariyyah 1, Toorabally Zaynab 1, Gokhan Zengin 2, Kannan Rr Rengasamy 3, Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian 3, Mahomoodally M Fawzi 1 Abstract

Onion, (Allium cepa L.), is one of the most consumed and grown vegetable crops in the world. Onion bulb, with its characteristic flavor, is the third most essential horticultural spice with a substantial commercial value. Apart from its culinary virtues, A. cepa is also used traditionally for its medicinal virtues in a plethora of indigenous cultures. Several publications have been produced in an endeavor to validate such traditional claims. Nonetheless, there is still a dearth of up-to-date, detailed compilation, and critical analysis of the traditional and ethnopharmacological propensities of A. cepa. The present review, therefore, aims to systematically review published literature on the traditional uses, pharmacological properties, and phytochemical composition of A. cepa. A. cepa was found to possess a panoply of bioactive compounds and numerous pharmacological properties, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, hypolipidemic, anti-hypertensive, and immunoprotective effects. Although a large number of in vitro and in vivo studies have been conducted, several limitations and research gaps have been identified which need to be addressed in future studies.

References Allium cepa

AlAli, M., Alqubaisy, M., Aljaafari, M. N., AlAli, A. O., Baqais, L., Molouki, A., Abushelaibi, A., Lai, K.-S., & Lim, S.- H. E. (2021). Nutraceuticals: Transformation of conventional foods into health promoters/disease preventers and safety considerations. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 26, 2540. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26092540

Albishi, T., John, J. A., Al-Khalifa, A. S., & Shahidi, F. (2013). Antioxidative phenolic constituents of skins of onion varieties and their activities. Journal of Functional Foods, 5(3), 1191-1203.

Ali, A. A. O.-H., Al-sayed, H. M. A., Yasin, N. M. N., & Afifi, E. A. A. (2016). Effect of Different extraction methods on stablity of anthocyanins extracted from red onion peels (Allium cepa) and its uses as food colorants. Bulletin of the National Nutrition Institute of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 47, 196-219.

Asl, A. H., & Khajenoori, M. (2013). Subcritical water extraction. In Mass Transfer-Advances in sustainable energy and environment oriented numerical modeling, H. Nakajima (Ed.), 459-487. https://doi.org/10.5772/54993

Altemimi, A., Lakhssassi, N., Baharlouei, A., Watson, D. G., & Lightfoot, D. A. (2017). Phytochemicals: Extraction, isolation, and identification of bioactive compounds from plant extracts. Plants (Basel, Switzerland), 6(4), 42. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants6040042

Wetenschappelijk onderzoek Allium cepa

In silico screening of Allium cepa phytochemicals for their binding abilities to SARS and SARS-CoV-2 3C-like protease and COVID-19 human receptor ACE-2. Trop Biomed 2021 Jun 1;38(2):214-221. doi: 10.47665/tb.38.2.060.

T A Bondhon 1, A Fatima 2, K Jannat 1, A Hasan 1, R Jahan 1, V Nissapatorn 3, C Wiart 4, M L Pereira 5, M Rahmatullah 1

Corona virus SARS-CoV-2-induced viral disease (COVID-19) is a zoonotic disease that was initially transmitted from animals to humans. The virus surfaced towards the end of December 2019 in Wuhan, China where earlier SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) had also surfaced in 2003. Unlike SARS, SARS-CoV-2 (a close relative of the SARS virus) created a pandemic, and as of February 24 2021, caused 112,778,672 infections and 2,499,252 deaths world-wide. Despite the best efforts of scientists, no drugs against COVID-19 are yet in sight; five vaccines have received emergency approval in various countries, but it would be a difficult task to vaccinate twice the world population of 8 billion. The objective of the present study was to evaluate through in silico screening a number of phytochemicals in Allium cepa (onion) regarding their ability to bind to the main protease of COVID-19 known as the 3C-like protease or 3CLpro, (PDB ID: 6LU7), 3CLpro of SARS (PDB ID: 3M3V), and human angiotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2), [PDB ID: 1R42], which functions as a receptor for entry of the virus into humans. Molecular docking (blind docking, that is docking not only against any target pocket) were done with the help of AutoDockVina. It was observed that of the twenty-two phytochemicals screened, twelve showed good binding affinities to the main protease of SARS-CoV-2. Surprisingly, the compounds also demonstrated good binding affinities to ACE-2. It is therefore very likely that the binding affinities shown by these compounds against both 3CLpro and ACE-2 merit further study for their potential use as therapeutic agents.


Effects of Allium cepa and Its Constituents on Respiratory and Allergic Disorders: A Comprehensive Review of Experimental and Clinical Evidence. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021; 2021: 5554259.. Sima Beigoli, 1 Sepideh Behrouz, 2 , 3 Arghavan Memarzia, 2 , 3 Seyyedeh Zahra Ghasemi, 2 , 3 Marzie Boskabady, 4 , 5 Narges Marefati, 2 , 3 Farzaneh Kianian, 6 Mohammad Reza Khazdair, 7 Hesham El-Seedi, 8 , 9 , 10 and Mohammad Hosein Boskabady 2 , 3

The health benefits of Allium cepa (A. cepa) have been proclaimed for centuries. Various pharmacological and therapeutic effects on respiratory, allergic, and immunologic disorders are shown by A. cepa and its constituents. Flavonoids such as quercetin and kaempferol, alk(en)yl cysteine sulfoxides including S-methyl cysteine sulfoxide and S-propyl cysteine sulfoxide, cycloalliin, thiosulfinates, and sulfides are the main compounds of the plant. A. cepa displays broad-spectrum pharmacological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, and antidiabetic effects. Our objective in this review is to present the effects of A. cepa and its constituents on respiratory, allergic, and immunologic disorders. Different online databases were searched to find articles related to the effect of A. cepa extracts and its constituents on respiratory, allergic, and immunologic disorders until the end of December 2020 using keywords such as onion, A. cepa, constituents of A. cepa, therapeutic effects and pharmacological effects, and respiratory, allergic, and immunologic disorders. Extracts and constituents of A. cepa showed tracheal smooth muscle relaxant effects, indicating possible bronchodilator activities or relieving effects on obstructive respiratory diseases. In experimental animal models of different respiratory diseases, the preventive effect of various extracts and constituents of A. cepa was induced by their antioxidant, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory effects. The preventive effects of the plant and its components on lung disorders induced by exposure to noxious agents as well as lung cancer, lung infection, and allergic and immunologic disorders were also indicated in the experimental and clinical studies. Therefore, this review may be considered a scientific basis for development of therapies using this plant, to improve respiratory, allergic, and immunologic disorders.