Aspergillus niger

[Yorky]

Occasionally we find that some onions are "infected" with aspergillus niger. Some articles suggest that this may be washed off and the onion used but others suggest that affected onions should be binned. What are your views?

 

[Kake Lover]

Well I had no idea!

I've just been peeling it and wiping it off all these years.


It seems it's ok in small quantities.

https://nootriment.com/aspergillus-niger/

 

[Francesca]

I have not had this problem, however, if I do ever run across it, I would dump in the rubbish ..

I only buy sustainable and bio veggies at the Farmer´s Markets and as well as fruit or naturally grown or what is wild ..

 

[Morning Glory]

I've seen this blackening before - I didn't know it was a fungus and have washed it off in the past. I never bin anything unless its literally rotten. Usually its only on the outer layer anyway so you could always discard that part. Is it poisonous?

 

[epicuric]

I once got aspergillus in my lung. It wasn't pleasant.

 

[ElizabethB]

I remove any infected layers + 1.

 

[zuludog]

I just remove the infected layers; been doing it for years

 

[Elawin]

I just remove the infected layers too, and give the onion a rinse.

 

[Yorky]

I've today come across it on a few cloves of garlic. The remainder of the head was unaffected.

My wife wanted to know why I didn't wash the cloves before taking the picture. Doh!

 

[buckytom]

Unless it has started to cause the onion or the garlic to rot/turn brown, I just trim the affected areas.

That last bit also works on an array of a personal problems, lol.

 

[medtran49]

I've today come across it on a few cloves of garlic. The remainder of the head was unaffected.

View attachment 20252
My wife wanted to know why I didn't wash the cloves before taking the picture. Doh!

Odd, the last batch of garlic we got seems to be affected. Have never seen it before on garlic. Odd coincidence on opposite sides of the world.

I peel off the outer layer if that's all that it's growing on with onions. More than that, trash bin

 

[zuludog]

Yep, I just trim or scrape the affected parts then give it a rinse and carry on as usual; been doing that for years