Onion and Garlic Experts Descend Upon Sacramento

Humans have known of the health benefits of onions and garlic for thousands of years. But scientists are only now beginning to unlock the mysteries of the allium plant family's cancer-fighting properties, ability to lower cholesterol and other nutritional attributes. Scientists from throughout the world will gather in Sacramento Dec. 10-12 at the Radisson Hotel to share their latest onion and garlic research in four main areas: human health and nutrition, pest management, breeding and genetics, and grower production issues. It will be the first time the National Onion Research Conference will be held in California since its inception 15 years ago. Approximately 175 researchers and related industry representatives will share 70 research papers, tour university and private research facilities (including the world's largest vegetable seed company) and be treated to a number of special presentations, according to Ron Voss, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension vegetable specialist and chair of the event's organizing committee. Included in the conference presentations will be a talk by the University of Wisconsin's Irwin Goldman, who will provide a historical overview of the onion in "From Pharaohs to Free Radicals: 5,000 Years of Alliums and Well-Being" at a Dec. 10 banquet. Other talks will focus on designing the ultimate onion for human health, research on the breast cancer-fighting element selenium in onions and transformation of the onion through genetic engineering.

Media Resources

Pat Bailey, Research news (emphasis: agricultural and nutritional sciences, and veterinary medicine), 530-219-9640, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu