Onion leaves you'd toss could fight skin aging
Food Forest
The green tops you cut off and compost when harvesting onions contain more antioxidant punch than most people realize, and this study shows a simple heat-and-solvent trick pulls it out efficiently.
Researchers took the leafy green tops of onion plants, the part usually thrown away as waste, and used microwaves to quickly pull out beneficial plant compounds like quercetin. In lab and cell tests, the extract calmed oxidative stress, blocked enzymes linked to wrinkles and dark spots, and didn't harm skin cells even at fairly high doses. It suggests a common kitchen scrap could become a useful ingredient in natural skincare products.
Key Findings
Microwave-assisted extraction boosted total flavonoid content 1.34-fold compared to conventional maceration, using optimized conditions of 50% ethanol, 50°C, 15 minutes, and a 1:20 solid-to-solvent ratio.
LC-QTOF-MS profiling identified 56 bioactive compounds in the extract, including flavonoids, phenolic acids, and sulfur-containing compounds, with quercetin quantified at 2.51 mg/g.
The extract showed measurable antioxidant activity (DPPH IC50 = 97.1 µg/mL), tyrosinase inhibition (IC50 = 50.66 µg/mL), and anti-collagenase activity (IC50 = 2.84 mg/mL), while remaining non-cytotoxic to human keratinocytes up to 100 µg/mL.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists turned discarded onion leaves into a skin-protecting extract using microwave heating, pulling out quercetin and dozens of other compounds that fought oxidative stress and skin-aging enzymes in lab tests without harming skin cells.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Microwave-Assisted Extraction of a Quercetin-Containing Onion Leaf Extract for Potential Anti-Aging Cosmetic Applications
Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the most widely cultivated vegetables worldwide, while its leaves are discarded as agricultural waste despite being a valuable source of bioactive compounds. This s...
open_in_new Read full abstractAbstract copyright held by the original publisher.
Species Mentioned
Was this useful?
Want to tell us more? (optional)
Thanks for the note!
Something went wrong — please try again.
Too many submissions. Try again in an hour.
Gene editing removes 97% of celiac-triggering proteins from bread wheat
It could mean that people with celiac disease — roughly 1 in 100 worldwide — may one day safely eat bread made from real wheat, without sacrificing the taste...
The onion, also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classified as a separate species until 2011. The onion's close relatives include garlic, scallion, leek...