• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.33-45
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• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Onion, particularly onion peel, is a quercetin-rich food with, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects. However, the effect of onion peel extract (OPE) in humans is unclear. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate whether OPE improves natural killer (NK) cell activity and cytokine concentration in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Eighty participants aged 19-64 yrs old with a white blood cell count of 4,000-10,000 cells/µL, symptoms of upper respiratory infection at least once within the previous 12 mon, and perceived stress scale (PSS) over 14 were included. Participants were randomly assigned to take either 1,000 mg/day OPE or a placebo for 8 weeks. RESULTS: Compliance were 87.4 ± 8.6% and 86.9 ± 79.0% in OPE and placebo groups. Compared to the placebo, OPE supplementation improved "Hoarseness" (P = 0.038) of the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey (WURSS)-21 symptom, and stress scores (P = 0.001; 0.021) of PSS. Supplementation of OPE had no significant effect on NK cell activity and concentrations of cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-12, IL-1β, interferon-γ, and tumor necrosis factor-α. At baseline, the WURSS-21 symptom and PSS score (P = 0.024; 0.026) were higher in the OPE group than the placebo group. Among participants with higher than median WURSS-21 symptom score, OPE supplementation increased NK cell activity (P = 0.038). Supplementation of OPE had no significant effects on safety measurements and adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggested that OPE supplementation improves NK cell activity in participants with moderate upper respiratory symptoms without any significant adverse effects.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.406-413
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• 2011

This study was carried out to investigate antioxidative properties of various extracts and antibrowning effects of extracts in apple slices were investigated by ${\Delta}E$ value and PPO relative activity. Apples were cut into 1.5 cm thickness and they were dipped in 1% extract solutions(OW: water extracts of onion, OE: 80% EtOH extracts of onion, AW: water extracts of apple, AE: 80% EtOH extracts of apple, MW: water extracts of mandarin orange peel, ME: 80% EtOH extracts of mandarin orange peel) for 1 min. OW showed higher than the other treatments for total phenolic contents(94.35 mg/g), PPO inhibition(74.00%). And the highest DPPH free radical scavenging activity(40.27%) measured in ME. ${\Delta}E$ value of apple slices dipped in MW was 2.37 whereas ${\Delta}E$ value of apple slices dipped in AW was 12.12. These results suggest that onion and mandarin orange peel extracts should be a potential source for controlling browning during storage of apple slices.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.148-154
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• 2015

Onion (Allium cepa) is one of the flavonoids-rich materials in human diet and onion peel, which is the onion by-products, contains over 20 times more quercetin than the flesh. In this study, to examine the anti-inflammatory effects of onion peel hot water extract (OPHWE), the cell viability, nitric oxide (NO), pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interluekin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$), and IL-$1{\beta}$, were measured using the murine macrophage cell line RAW 264.7 cells. The Balb/c mice were used for an in vivo acute toxicity test and ICR mice were used for measurement of inhibition effects of croton oil-induced mouse ear edema. As a result, NO levels decreased in a dose-dependent manner. The production of IL-6, TNF-${\alpha}$, and IL-$1{\beta}$ was suppressed by 38%, 41%, and 34% respectively, compared with that of the LPS only group, without any cytotoxicity. The edema formation in the ICR mouse ear was also reduced compared to that in control. Moreover, there were no mortalities occurred in mice administered 5,000 mg/kg body weight of OPHWE. These results suggest that OPHWE has considerable anti-inflammatory activities and can be regarded as a potent candidate material to treat inflammatory diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1665-1671
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• 2012

This study was conducted to assess the removal of residual pesticides and to obtain high amounts of quercetin in onion peel extracts (OPEs) by 4 washing treatments. Washing is one of the standard processing steps in obtaining functional food ingredients from onion peel. After a first detergent wash (0.2% w/v) (DW) and hot air drying ($80^{\circ}C$, 24 hr) (B), 4 washing treatments were tested, including a second DW (C), ultrasonication ($50^{\circ}C$, 10 min) plus DW (D), 0.3% $H_2O_2$ (v/v) plus DW (E), and blanching ($95-97^{\circ}C$, 2 min) plus DW (F). This was followed by 60% (v/v) ethanol extraction and vacuum freeze drying of the OPE. The E treatment yielded 89.04% OPE and a quercetin content of 96.84% in the OPE compared with the B treatment, and had the highest efficiency of all treatments tested. The OPE was tested for the presence of 177 residual pesticides and three compounds were detected in all treatments: cyhalothirn, fluquinconazole and procymidone. Cyhalothirn and fluquinconazole levels were below the permitted levels for fresh onion, while procymidone was present in the high level range of 128.01~133.46 mg/kg in all samples. The E treatment was a better washing method than the others for removal of residual pesticides. It could reduce the level of residual pesticides without changing the functional properties of the OPE.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.442-450
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• 2011

Numerous studies have suggested that dietary flavonoids contribute to prevent cardiovascular disease. Onion contains many functional phytochemicals such as quercetin. The aim of this study was to examine whether onion peel extracts supplementation affect blood lipid profiles and blood coagulation in animal model. Total 48 Sprague-Dawley male rats at 5 weeks old were divided into 6 groups with different diets(C: control, HF: high fat diet, HFOE 0.01%: high fat+onion peel extract 0.01% diet, HFOE 0.02%, HFOE 0.05%, HFOE 0.1%) for 8 weeks. Onion peel extract supplementation significantly decreased serum levels of LDL-cholesterol and increased HDL-cholesterol, while total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were not affected. Hematological parameters(hematocrit, white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet count) and blood coagulation parameters(prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, and fibrinogen) were not significantly different among 6 groups. However, activated partial thromboplastin time of HFOE 0.05% group was significantly longer than that of HF group. These results indicate that onion peel extract supplementation displays hypocholestrolemic effects but does not seem to have anti-coagulation effects in high fat fed SD rats.

• Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.311-316
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• 2002

This study was carried out to investigate the optimum operating conditions of the air injection type onion peeling device which could be attached to a prototype onion peeler. An onion, stem and root was cut and some vertical line was dug in 1 mm depth on the skin, was put on the two parallel rollers. The diameters of the rollers were 105 mm and the ratio of peripheral velocity was 3:2, and moved by a geared motor. Air from the nozzle with high pressure and velocity was jetted to the rotating onion on the revolving rollers, and then the skin of the onion was stripped. On the test, the rolling characteristics of the experimental materials were measured. The effective peeling conditions were, the number of digging line on the skin of the onion was 4, and the air jet pressure was above 392.3 kPa(4.0 kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$) when the peripheral velocity was at 2.4 m/s. On these conditions, time requirement to peel an onion was less than 2 sec.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.86-96
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• 2015

Onions contain antioxidant flavonoids and bioactive sulfur compounds. These substances are more abundant in the peel than in onion flesh. For this reason, whole onions including peels were added to soy milk to produce soy milk with whole onions (SWO), whereas peeled onions were added to soy milk to produce soy milk with peeled onions (SPO). The functional and antioxidant properties of these two kinds of soy milk were then analyzed and compared. Compared to control soy milk (CS) without onion powder, treated samples (to which freeze dried onion powder was added at 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, and 2.0%, respectively) showed significantly increased amounts of quercetin, isoflavone, and total phenol (p=0.05). The magnitude of the increase rose as the amount of added onion powder increased and when onion powder contained onion peels. With regards to antioxidant activity (DPPH and ABTS), SWO showed a greater value than SPO. The sensory evaluation scores of SWO and SPO were lower than CS for roughness and swallowing, as adding onion powder increased solid contents and viscosities. However, higher overall acceptability were obtained 1.8SPO and 1.8SWO.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nutrition Society Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.288.1-288.1
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• 2003

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.695-699
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to set the optimal extraction condition of flavonoids from onion peels as a by-product generated from the onion industry without suitable processing. Four independent variables, affecting extraction conditions, which are solvent concentration ($X_1$), extraction temperature ($X_2$), pH of the solvent ($X_3$), and solvent ratio to onion peel ($X_4$) were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). A model equation obtained from RSM is 0.772 of R-square and 0.278 of lack of fit (p>0.05) for the optimal extraction conditions. From the ridge analysis, the conditions flavoring the highest extraction were solvent concentration (v/v) of 70%, extraction temperature of $40^{\circ}C$, extraction solvent pH of 5.3, and a solvent ratio to onion peel ratio of 1:63 (w/v). The flavonoid content obtained under optimal conditions showed 302.63 mg/g, which is 1.12 times higher than the prediction value.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.175-181
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The anti-obesity effect of quercetin-rich onion peel extract (OPE) was suggested in rats, but information from human studies is limited. This study aimed to investigate the effects of OPE on the body composition of overweight and obese subjects. MATERIALS/METHODS: In this 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, parallel clinical trials were performed in overweight and obese Korean subjects. Randomly assigned subjects were instructed to take daily either the placebo (male, 6 and female, 30) or OPE capsules containing 100 mg of quercetin (male, 5 and female, 31). Body composition was measured by using bioimpedance and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Resting energy expenditure (REE) and respiratory quotient (RQ) were evaluated by using indirect calorie measurement methods. Fasting blood levels of glucose, insulin, lipids, and leptin were determined. RESULTS: Quercetin-rich OPE supplementation significantly reduced the weight and percentage of body fat as measured by DXA (P = 0.02). These effects were not shown in the control group. Levels of blood glucose (P = 0.04) and leptin (P = 0.001 for placebo, P = 0.002 for OPE) decreased in both groups. Significant increases in REE and RQ were observed in both groups (P = 0.003 for placebo, P = 0.006 for OPE) and in the OPE group alone (P = 0.02), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Quercetin-rich OPE supplementation changed the body composition of the overweight and obese subjects. This result suggests a beneficial role of the anti-obesity effect of OPE human subjects.