Why does my onion have very few, very thick layers, and a hollow center?
My girlfriend sliced into an onion this evening to find this,
…this is weird to me. There are very few layers, the innermost layer was exceedingly thick, and it's hollow. For reference, I'm used to an onion looking like this:
(apologies on the quality) Not hollow, many layers (probably like 10-12 as opposed to the weird onions 5), normal layer thicknesses.
What caused my "weird" onion to look the way it does? Is it safe to eat?
(Both onions looked about the same with the skin on. Not mushy, not too much damage to the outer layers, nothing to tip us off as to what we'd find…)
Best Answer
Was this onion by any chance purchased from a local farmer's market or grower?
I have grown onions that did this, experimenting with over-wintering onions and allowing them a 2nd growth, with onions that I thought too small to harvest in fall so let them keep going. The experiment was a failure. Most rotted, but some did this, produced an onion that looked fine, but few, leathery layers and hollow or growth in the middle. Taste was fine, a bit strong, but texture was less than pleasant. Some flies and disorders like milky rot will also hollow them, but a high share of the time will also result in goo or slime and I have not seen the thick layers associated with those conditions, but that is strictly personal experience. And, it could easily be an individual mutant or bolted plant.
Any stress while growing, too much or too little water, heat, light can cause a plant to bolt and go to full maturity before it should. In you case, to my personal eye, the onion looks like one that went to full maturity rather than a disease. We actually eat many items, like onions and garlic before they are fully mature. In both of these items, blooms are typically removed to try to delay the plant from fully maturing. This helps to produce bigger bulb and clove heads. In the case of onions, if the onion fully matures, rot occurs or a product similar to what you have. Only a guess, but what my thinking would be is an onion that was missed when top buds were removed, or one that fully matured without bothering to bloom.
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Why is my onion hollow?
If your onions bolted (tried to send up a seed stalk)they will tend to hollow even if cut off that seed head at the bud stage. The basement should not have bothered them. If the humidity is excessive they may rot, but not dry out with hollow centers. That is almost always the result of bolting.Do all onions have the same number of layers?
Answer and Explanation: Although the usual number of layers (leaves) is between 8 to 13, the number of layers an onion has depends on its species, whether it is a hybrid or... See full answer below.Are onions hollow?
Onions set flower and go to seed; bulbs are hollow. Nip off flower stalks and flowers so that plant will put energy and nutrients into bulb formation not seed production. Bulbs are small but look white and normal.What do the layers of an onion represent?
The onion model in computing is used as a metaphor for the complex structure of information systems. The system is split into layers to make it easier to understand. A simple example is to start with the program, operating system and hardware layers. Each of these layers can then be subdivided.Why Pruning Onions is So Important - (How to Prune Onions)
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Answer 2
That onion is definitely strange, a hollow center and fewer, thick layers are the sign that something has not gone right when it was growing. Often anomalies are the symptom of the different flies and rusts that can attack onions and other members of the allium family. This doesn't necessarily make them unsafe, unless they smell bad, are mushy or slimy they should be perfectly fine to eat.
On the other hand the idea of eating a nuclear mutant of an onion might not appeal to you, in which case I wouldn't blame you for discarding it and using another one.
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