5 Ways to Store Onions to Last Longer!

1. Find a dark, cool, well-ventilated location:

Torn over what to do with that big bag of onions when you get back from the supermarket? Skip the fridge. René Hardwick, director of industry and public affairs for the National Onion Association, suggests keeping all onions in a “dark, cool place: like a pantry, basement, or garage, which can give onions a shelf life of up to four weeks.

The Doctor. Kundu also points out that a dry and well-ventilated place is very important because “mold, which is a fungus , cannot grow in dry environments because it needs moisture to grow”. The result? Decelerated deterioration. In fact, according to a 2016 study, it is ideal to store uncut onions at a temperature of 10°C.

It is also imperative to store onions to last longer  uncut in a mesh bag or open basket rather than in a plastic bag, because plastic bags do not have adequate ventilation to help onions last longer.

But what happens if you store onions to last longer  uncut in the fridge and not in a dry, ventilated area? Because the refrigerator has poor ventilation, the cold, damp conditions “trigger mold growth, so it spoils more quickly,” Kundu notes.

Have you ever noticed that chilled leftover onions get cold, soggy, and tender sooner than you’d like? This is because plants store carbohydrates as a complex sugar called starch, and when stored at a low temperature, these complex starches are converted into simple sugar molecules . The Doctor. Kundu says, “Microorganisms, like mold, love sugar because sugar gives them energy to grow.”

2. After cutting an onion, store the leftovers in the fridge:

When buying onions in bulk, it is often difficult to use them all at once. While there are ways to get creative with leftover onions (caramelize them or toss them with peppers and onions, for example), we are often in the habit of saving onions to last longer  or chopped onions for later use. But what is the best practice of storing leftover onions to prevent spoilage of cut onions? Keep them in the fridge.

According to the USDA, whole peeled onions have a shelf life of 10 to 14 days refrigerated, while diced and sliced ​​onions generally last 7 to 10 days refrigerated. It is recommended to store leftover chopped onions in a closed container or plastic bag while in the fridge.

So why do we choose the fridge in a cool, dry place to store leftover onions? Remember those rumors that you should never eat an onion in the fridge because of bacteria ? Is not true.

According to a 2017 McGill article, “ Bacteria are not generated spontaneously. They need to be present in some way. Cutting boards and dirty hands are a possible source, but the bacteria that spoil food don’t stay in the air; you need contact”.

Basically, this means storing leftover onions is safe to eat later, as long as you don’t cut them on a cutting board that could be contaminated and you make sure your hands are clean while handling them.

Dr. Kundu explains: “It’s like when you have a cut, you can introduce germs and that compromised area can get infected more quickly… which is what happened to leftover onions now.”

Although there are microorganisms inside the refrigerator, most of them cannot multiply as quickly due to low metabolism at a temperature of 4°C. This leads to reduced onion spoilage, she adds. “But if you keep the uncut onion at room temperature, it’s a good place for fungus to grow .”

3. Storing onions to last longer is a good option :

“Sometimes cooked onions not stored properly can allow the growth of toxin-producing bacteria such as enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Clostridium botulinum, etc.,” says Kundu. So why cooked onions but not raw ones?

“Because in the raw onion, the active ingredients are there. So when you cook onions, many antimicrobial compounds (including sulfuric acid ) go down. So you find more bacterial growth.”

“Several toxin-producing bacteria can assume resistant forms called endospores. Getting rid of endospores is a challenge for the food industry , because these structures are very resistant to heat and cooking,” adds Dr. Kundu.

“So what that means is you cooked the food thinking you killed the bacteria, but the endospores could still be present. They behave like dead bacteria and, upon entering the human body , become alive again and can cause pathogenesis.”

That said, store cooked onions for up to five days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

4. How do you know if your onions have gone bad?

If you practice good habits of storing onions to last longer , you’ll know better when your onions have gone bad. But there are a few things to note to help you decide whether or not to toss the vegetable .

“The change in color is the biggest evidence of how you can tell an onion has gone bad,” says Kundu. “Beware of gray, brown, black and velvet-like, fluffy, cotton -like overgrown stains .”

It helps that you can see the deterioration of the onions. “Molds are better at growing onions than bacteria because molds like to grow at acidic pH . We call them acidophilic fungi , which means acid-loving microorganisms.”

“Sometimes the presence of sludge is also a sign that microorganisms have fed on the onion’s cells and sugar ,” she adds. If you notice any mold on your onion, just send it straight to the trash.

5. There are health risks associated with eating contaminated onions:

In 2012, there was a case where contaminated onions were collected. “There have been cases where people thought there was contamination from Listeria monocytogenes that could grow at refrigerator temperature,” notes Kundu.

“Listeria monocytogenes causes a fatal disease called listeriosis , which affects the immunocompromised population, i.e. people with weak immune systems , such as pregnant women , babies, the elderly, people with AIDS , or people who have undergone chemotherapy . It could be fatal for them.”

According to Up to Date, Cladosporium, Alternaria, Epicoccum, Fusarium, Penicillium and Aspergillus are common genera of fungi that can be found indoors. “Exposure to fungi can actually cause adverse health effects, including infections , hypersensitivity disorders, and the toxic/irritant effects of their by-products,” the article reads. According to a study, toxins can also be associated with allergic incidents.

“Ingested in larger amounts, these fungi may be involved in toxin-associated diseases,” notes Dr. Kundu additionally. “Some dangerous toxins produced by various species of fungi are mycotoxins, aflatoxin, fumonisin, ochratoxin, etc.”

It’s also important to note that last year, NOA confirmed onions can’t help cure the flu (yes, people actually believed that!) and are not responsible for food poisoning . Ufa!