Onions may be one of the healthiest, most flavorful vegetables on the face of the Earth, but they're definitely no fun to chop. However, your days of getting teary-eyed in the kitchen may be coming to an end as Japanese company House Foods Group prepares to launch the world's first tear-free onion to the market.

 

洋葱也许是世界上最健康可口的蔬菜了，但是切洋葱可不是什么好玩的活。然而，切洋葱“催人泪下”的历史终于要结束啦！因为日本House食品集团株式会社即将推出世界上首个“无泪洋葱”。

 

Aptly named "Smile Ball", because it puts a smile on your face rather than make you cry, this new type of onion is the result of two decades of research. In 2002, House Foods Group scientists published a paper in which they hypothesized that tear-inducing enzymes¹ in onions could be weakened while retaining their full flavor and nutritional² value. Their research actually won an Ig Nobel Prize - an award handed out to honor achievements organizers consider unintentionally funny - but last year the company announced that their theory had finally become reality. Although the announcement mentioned that House Foods Group had no intention of producing Smile Ball onions commercially anytime soon, it appears the wonder vegetables will hit Japanese stores this fall.

 

It has long been known that chopping onions induces tears due to a volatile³ gas released by onion cells when damaged by the knife. Chilling an onion reduces the movement of its atoms, resulting in less syn-propanethial-S-oxide - the tear-inducing lachrymatory agent - being released when cut, but that only reduces the number of tears you shed. Chopping the Smile Ball onion in any conditions is reportedly a tear-free experience.

 

Last year, when it made its big announcement, House Foods Group revealed that it managed to suppress the production of syn-propanethial-S-oxide by bombarding onion bulbs with irradiating ions, which also made the vegetables less pungent⁴. Full-grown Smile Ball onions release almost no tear-inducing compounds when chopped or eaten raw. Unlike regular onions, they are said to have a sweet taste reminiscent of apples or Asian nashi pears.

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