Does a sliced onion purify the air and keep sickness away?

Hyderabad: An Instagram reel that claims that a slice of onion can be used as a natural air purifier to keep cold, flu, and sickness away has taken the internet by storm.

In the viral reel, a woman can be seen asking people to put onion slices around their homes to keep the air clean. She also adds that keeping onion slices in the corners will detoxify and keep flu viruses away.

Can placing onion slices around your house purify the air and prevent people from getting sick? Let's find out.

Fact Check

According to the US National Onion Association (NOA), this claim emerged from an old wives' tale that said placing a cut raw onion in rooms could protect its occupants from getting the bubonic plague. AOA also called the claims of it being a natural air purifier as an anecdotal claim.

"While still many people swear by the onion in bedroom for cough, the method have never been proven. Cold and flu viruses are spread by contact, not by floating in the air where the onion can supposedly attract or destroy them," NOA said.

"There is no scientific evidence that a cut raw onion absorbs germs or rids the air of toxins/poisons," it concluded.

Answering a question on Best Food Facts, Dr. MacDonald said, "No, onions do not absorb bacteria. The idea that a vegetable would attract and suck into itself bacteria from the air is not even logical."

Onions do contain sulfur compounds and were used in some cultures for medical purposes, but the effectiveness of these treatments is not significant.

On the effectiveness of putting onion inside a room or socks, Healthline said, "No studies have been done specifically to assess the benefit of putting onions in your socks or anywhere else on your body. While dozens of articles pasted all over the internet advocate the use of onions in your socks, they cite no experimental evidence. They rely only on claims and anecdotes."

From this, it is evident that there is no evidence that onion has air purifying or detoxifying properties. Hence, the claim is false.