This well known Allium family encompasses more than 500 members and most of them are edible, but not all are good to eat. Famous members of Allium family like green onions (also called scallions), sweet onions (white, yellow and red varieties), dried garlic, fresh garlic, chives, shallots, leeks, pearl onions (also white, yellow and red varieties), rocambole (sand leek) and many others are indispensable in countless dishes from soups to salads and are also a great source of B vitamins, vitamin C, calcium and potassium.

Shallots have the most phenols, six times the amount found in Vidalia onion, the variety with the lowest phenolic content. Shallots also have the most antioxidant activity, followed by Western Yellow, pungent yellow (New York Bold), Northern Red, Mexico, Empire Sweet, Western White, Peruvian Sweet, Texas 1015, Imperial Valley Sweet, and Vidalia. Western Yellow onions have the most flavonoids, eleven times the amount found in Western White, the variety with the lowest flavonoid content.

Onions are incredibly versatile and each cuisine has its own rules regarding the treatment of onions. Yellow onions are the most common cooking onions and have the strongest flavor. White onions have a sharp fresh taste and red onions are slightly milder and crisper. Leeks are related to both onion and garlic but milder in taste and excellent in soups or braised. The flavor of Welsh onions lies between leeks and onions. Spanish and Bermuda onions are crisp, sweet and mild. Vidalia, Walla Walla and Maui are super sweet varieties and often eaten raw. Pearl onions are very small and mild and usually cooked whole in stews, pickled or braised. Shallots taste like a cross between a mild onion and garlic. Chives have a light onion aroma and spicy onion flavor. Chinese chives are more garlicky and used in spring rolls, with tofu, eggs or stir-fried dishes. Green onions are young onions with long green tops and mild flavor.

Old folk healers have advocated onions as a "heart healer" and remedy for hundreds of other medical conditions including treatment of infections, wounds, curing baldness and the common cold. There is no scientific evidence to support all the claims, but some new researchers have now confirmed that an organic compound in onions, called ADENOSINE, functions as an anticoagulating agent as effective as aspirin. The other compound ALLICIN, discovered also in all the members of the Allium family is a powerful antibacterial agent. Furthermore, scientists have discovered that sulfur compounds in onions (compounds that are responsible for the characteristic onion odor), fight the certain stomach cancers.

After onions, garlic is the most widely used member of Allium species. Used raw or cooked, garlic is essential in most cuisines around the world. The Koreans hold the record in consumption per capita, followed by the Southeast Asians, then the Europeans around the Mediterranean.

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