GARLIC (AND ITS DERIVATIVES)

Description

Garlic is obtained from Allium sativum, a member of the lily family. Historical records reveal garlic has been used in foods dating back to 4500 B. C. Garlic is an herbaceous, perennial plant of Mediterranean origin. Its stalk can reach lengths of 1 m (39 in.). The plant exhibits flat, keeled leaves and is terminated by an umbellated flower cluster. The bulb-like root contains several bulbils (cloves) enclosed in a common membrane. The bulbs are the part used. Garlic has a pungent, acrid, aromatic, garlic-like odor.
Other Allium species used for food beside garlic are onion, leeks, shallots and chives.
In addition to the natural form, garlic is marketed as: (a) minced dehydrated garlic, (b) garlic powder, which is ground dehydrated cloves, (c) garlic salt, which is garlic powder mixed with table salt, and if necessary, some edible starch to prevent caking, and (d) oil of garlic, which is steam distilled from crushed garlic bulbs.
Major chemical constituents of whole garlic include alliin (allylsulfinyl alanine), which is rapidly converted enzymatically when garlic is crushed to allicin (responsible for the characteristic odor of the essential oil and for the odor liberated from the crushed garlic clove), (allylsulfinyl allylsulfide), volatile and fatty acids, mucilage, and albumin. The principal compounds of garlic oil obtained by steam distillation of fresh garlic are disulfides, such as allylpropyl disulfide, diallyl disulfide, and diallyl trisulfide. Dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide and dimethyl trisulfide have also been identified in the volatile fraction of the oil.
tillation of the crushed bulbs or cloves; sometimes the whole plant is distilled. The essential oil obtained from bulbs is a clear, paleyellow to reddish-orange liquid bearing a very intense mercaptanlike note.2.