Question

Which of the following parts of plants in garlic and onion are edible?
A. Underground stem
B. Fleshy scaly leaves
C. Tunic
D. Adventitious root

Answer 1

Hint: Garlic and onion both are examples of allium plants. Allium plants are plants that produce strong smelling bulbs.

Complete Answer:
- The underground stems are modified plants which perform a variety of functions and lack the typical green colour of the stems. The underground stems grow under the ground. There are different types of underground stems such as rhizomes, tuber, corn and bulb. Onion and garlic are also examples of underground stems that are bulbs. The whole parts of underground stems are not edible, only some of the parts are edible.
- Onion and garlic are also examples of underground stems that are bulbs. The bulb is formed by the overlapping of many nodes in the condensed stem. The bulb will have a thickened base to which the fleshy and scaly leaves are attached. These fleshy and scaly leaves are covered by the dry covering known as tunic. The inner fleshy and scaly leaves are edible.
- The tunic is a type of underground stem. The tunicated bulb is covered by the layer of membranous scales called tunic. The tunic is a dried covering on fleshy leaves of the bulb, which is the skin we peel from onion and garlic and it is non-edible.
- The adventitious roots are the type of roots which arise from any parts of the plants other than radicle. Both onion and garlic have an adventitious root system, but the adventitious roots are not edible.

Therefore, the correct option is b) Fleshy scaly leaves.

Note: Garlic and onion are plants belonging to the genus Allium, of the amaryllis family. The garlic has many bulbs in a cluster whereas onion is a single bulb.