Type of knife and cutting speed influence the amount of volatile compounds with a tearmous power emitted by onions: this is how to adjust.
Do you have to prepare a sauté? Get a very sharp knife and arm yourself with patience: your eyes will thank you. To reduce the onions cutting tears, thin and sharp blades are needed, and a lot of time. The scientists of the Cornell University of Ithaca, New York, showed it, who had fun torturing a brown onion with a kind of guillotine specially set up.
Chemical weapon. The eye irritation caused by onions is due to tear mestatea very volatile compound consisting of two molecules that form when the vegetable cells are damaged by an incision. This irritating agent is released when some enzymes contained in cellular organels of the plant come into contact with sulfur -based molecules found in the cell cytoplasm, the fluid matrix in which the organelli are missing. The tear me factor is a deadly weapon Against animals that – like us – venture to attack onions, for example chewing them.
Thin wire. The scientists analyzed with a high -speed camera the irritating spray produced by a brown onion, chopped by a small guillotine with blades of different thickness (from 5 to 200 millimeters), which fell at different speeds (from 0.4 to 2 meters per second). The sharp blades have produced less irritating dropletswho have released more slowness and less energy.
Sudden release. When the researchers covered the onion skin with a dark paint to better observe the surface deformation, they realized that the less thin and sharp knives caused an “explosive” effect. The blade folded the skin without affecting it, accumulating elastic energy and increasing the pressure inside the onions. So, when he finally could cut, The skin erutrated tear droplets At speed even 40 meters per second, which once in the air fragmented in other even smaller droplets.
No to cuts to the Masterchef. A blunt knife also produced 40 times more drops than a sharp one, while the higher cutting speeds (those worthy of a chef) created four times more droplets than the slower cuts. The next time you cook, therefore, greater calmness combined with more precise tools could give relief to your eyes.
