Onion tea might make you tear up, but listen to your gut
If cardamom, cinnamon, lemon, citrus, jasmine and chamomile can make it into teas, why can’t onions?
Onion tea may not be popular—although in a few rare households the bulbs make for a redoubtable remedy for cold—but India’s consumer affairs ministry believes it might have stumbled upon a unique, gut-friendly blend.
The ministry, which is backing a plan to produce sweeteners extracted from onion waste, specifically for India’s mass demographic of diabetics, is also sponsoring a team that wants to make prebiotic tea from onions.
As with the onion-based sweetener, the idea for producing tea from the vegetable was among winners selected by the department of consumer affairs in a 2022 grand onion challenge.
A team being incubated by the Indore-based Acropolis Institute of Management Studies and Research (AIMSR) has developed the onion-based tea, which it says offers benefits such as improved gut health, enhanced immune function, reduced inflammation, and weight management support.
“Currently, the proposal (for the final product) is under review for approval,” said an official from the consumer affairs ministry. “The (institute) has received initial financial assistance exceeding ₹5 lakh, along with a prize of ₹75,000.”
Teams from the consumer affairs ministry as well as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India have already evaluated the manufacturing process for onion tea, this official said, asking not to be identified.
The consumer affairs secretary and the chief executive of FSSAI didn’t reply to emailed queries.
What’s unique about the prebiotic onion tea, according to the institute, is that it’s infused with inulin-fructo-oligosaccharides, or inulin-FOS, a blend of dietary fibres that support gut health by promoting the growth of beneficial bacteria in the colon.