Editing Onion (section)

=== Other uses ===

[[File:Cells from a red onion epidermal peel.tif|thumb|Onion [[epidermis (botany)|epidermis]] cells are visible in [[True color (rendering)|true color]] with minimal [[magnification]].]]

Onions have particularly large [[Cell (biology)|cells]] that are easy to observe under low magnification. Forming a single layer of cells, the bulb epidermis is easy to separate for educational, experimental, and [[plant breeding|breeding]] purposes.<ref>{{Cite journal |pmid=19684107 |year=2009 |last1=Suslov |first1=D |title=Onion epidermis as a new model to study the control of growth anisotropy in higher plants |journal=Journal of Experimental Botany |volume=60 |issue=14 |pages=4175–4187 |last2=Verbelen |first2=J. P. |last3=Vissenberg |first3=K. |doi=10.1093/jxb/erp251|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |pmid=24416168 |year=2014 |last1=Xu |first1=K |title=A rapid, highly efficient and economical method of Agrobacterium-mediated in planta transient transformation in living onion epidermis |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=e83556 |last2=Huang |first2=X. |last3=Wu |first3=M. |last4=Wang |first4=Y |last5=Chang |first5=Y |last6=Liu |first6=K |last7=Zhang |first7=J |last8=Zhang |first8=Y. |last9=Zhang |first9=F. |last10=Yi |first10=L |last11=Li |first11=T. |last12=Wang |first12=R. |last13=Tan |first13=G. |last14=Li |first14=C. |display-authors=5 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0083556 |pmc=3885512 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...983556X |doi-access=free}}</ref> Onions are therefore commonly used in [[science education]] to teach the use of a [[microscope]] for observing cell structure.<ref name="McCabeO'Donnell2007">{{cite book |author1=Anne McCabe |author2=Mick O'Donnell |author3=Rachel Whittaker |title=Advances in Language and Education |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKLc_kfOJb8C&pg=PA35 |date=19 July 2007 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4411-0458-8 |page=35 |access-date=2 August 2015 |archive-date=26 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926023847/https://books.google.com/books?id=UKLc_kfOJb8C&pg=PA35 |url-status=live }}</ref> Onion skins can be boiled to make an orange-brown dye.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allnaturaldyeing.com/onion-skin-dye/ |website=All Natural Dyeing |title=Onion Skin Dye (Yellow and Purple) |access-date=31 July 2020 |archive-date=6 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806051713/http://www.allnaturaldyeing.com/onion-skin-dye/ |url-status=live }}</ref>