Onions are believed to originate in central Asia, in modern-day Iran and Pakistan, and they have been among the earliest cultivated crops.
They were grown in Chinese gardens as early as 5,000 years ago, and are referred to in the oldest Vedic writings from India. As early as the sixth century B.C., a medical treatise, the Charaka Sanhita, celebrates this popular vegetable as a potent natural medicine, a diuretic, and remedy for the eyes, joints, and digestion.
In Egypt, onions were planted as far back as 3500 B.C. and they were worshiped as symbols of eternity due to their circle-within-a-circle structure. There were numerous paintings of onions on the inner walls of pyramids and other tombs. Read the full story here ▶
