Garlic (Allium sativum) is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to Central Asia, northeastern Iran and the foothills of Himalayas. It has naturalized in many other parts of the world, including Mediterranean Europe and China. There are two subspecies and hundreds of varieties of garlic.
Garlic has been used for thousands of years as a seasoning, culinary ingredient, and traditional medical remedy. It was known in many ancient civilizations, including the Babylonians, Egyptians, Jews, Romans, and Chinese, and remains significant in many cuisines and folk treatments, especially across the Mediterranean and Asia. Sulfur compounds give garlic its pungent odor and flavor. If garlic is planted at the proper time and depth, it can be grown as far north as Alaska. It produces hermaphroditic flowers. It is pollinated by butterflies, moths, and other insects.
Chemistry
Fresh or crushed garlic yields the sulfur-containing compounds allicin, ajoene, diallyl polysulfides, vinyldithiins, and , as well as enzymes, saponins, flavonoids, and Maillard reaction products when cooked, which are not sulfur-containing compounds. The resultant compounds are responsible for the sharp or hot taste and strong smell of garlic.
Among alliums, garlic has by far the highest concentrations of initial reaction products, making garlic much more potent than onion, shallot, or leeks.
Numerous sulfur compounds contribute to the smell and taste of garlic. Hybrids have been experimentally produced. Genetically and morphologically, garlic is most similar to the wild species Allium longicuspis, which grows in central and southwestern Asia. However, because A. longicuspis is also mostly sterile, it is doubtful that it is the ancestor of A. sativum. So-called elephant garlic is actually a wild leek (A. ampeloprasum) and not a true garlic. Single clove garlic (also called pearl or solo garlic) originated in the Yunnan province of China.
Subspecies and varieties
There are two subspecies of A. sativum, ten major groups of varieties, and hundreds of varieties, or cultivars.
- A. sativum var. ophioscorodon (Link) Döll, called Ophioscorodon or hardneck garlic, includes porcelain garlics, rocambole garlic, and purple stripe garlics. It is sometimes considered to be a separate species, Allium ophioscorodon G.Don.
- A. sativum var. sativum, or softneck garlic, includes artichoke garlic, silverskin garlic, and creole garlic.
There are at least 120 cultivars originating from Central Asia, making it the main center of garlic biodiversity.thumb|right|Flower head
thumb|Italian garlic
Some garlics have protected status in the UK and the EU, including:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! Source
|-
|Aglio Rosso di Nubia (Red Garlic of Nubia)
|Nubia-Paceco, Provincia di Trapani, Sicily, Italy
|-
|Aglio Bianco Polesano
|Rovigo, Veneto, Italy (PDO)
|-
|Aglio di Voghiera
|Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy (PDO)
|-
|Ail blanc de Lomagne
|Lomagne in the Gascony, France (PGI)
|-
|Ail de la Drôme
|Drôme, France (PGI)
|-
|Ail rose de Lautrec, a rose/pink garlic
|Lautrec, France (PGI)
|-
|Ail violet de Cadours
|Cadours, France (PDO)
|-
|Ajo Morado de Las Pedroñeras, a rose/pink garlic
|Las Pedroñeras, Spain (PGI)
|-
| 金鄕大蒜 Jīn Xiāng Dà Suàn
|China (PGI)
|-
| Taşköprü Sarımsağı
|Turkey (PDO)
|}
Etymology
The word garlic derives from Old English, garlēac, meaning gar (spear) and leek, as a 'spear-shaped leek'.
Ecology
Garlic plants are usually hardy and not affected by many pests or diseases. Garlic plants are said to repel rabbits and moles. or leek rust, which usually appears as bright orange spots.
Botrytis neck and bulb rot is a disease of onion, garlic, leek and shallot. Botrytis allii and Botrytis aclada cause this disease in onion and Botrytis porri causes it in garlic. According to the University of California,<blockquote>Initial symptoms usually begin at the neck, where affected tissue softens, becomes water-soaked, and turns brown. In a humid atmosphere, a gray and feltlike growth (where spores are produced) appears on rotting scales, and mycelia may develop between scales. Dark-brown-to-black sclerotia (the resting bodies of the pathogen) may eventually develop in the neck or between scales.</blockquote>
Cultivation
thumb|Garlic fields, India
Garlic is easy to cultivate and may grow year-round in mild climates. While sexual propagation of garlic is possible, nearly all of the garlic in cultivation is propagated asexually by planting individual cloves in the ground.
Harvest is in late spring or early summer.
Garlic plants can be grown closely together, leaving enough space for the bulbs to mature, and are easily grown in containers of sufficient depth. Garlic does well in loose, dry, well-drained soils in sunny locations, and is hardy throughout USDA climate zones 4–9. When selecting garlic for planting, it is important to pick large bulbs from which to separate cloves. Large cloves, along with proper spacing in the planting bed, will also increase bulb size. Garlic plants prefer to grow in a soil with a high organic material content, but are capable of growing in a wide range of soil conditions and pH levels.
thumb|Garlic grown without the process of vernalization
Propagation
The method of propagating garlic from planting cloves is called division. Asexual propagation of garlic for production purposes requires cool temperatures that can vary depending on the cultivar. Hardneck varieties require long cold temperature exposure whereas softneck varieties thrive in milder climates. This cold climate is required for the process of vernalization, a form of stratification of the cloves necessary for the development of multiple-clove bulbs. Solo garlic is the result of garlic grown without the process of vernalization.
Production
{| class="wikitable floatright" style="width:12em; text-align:center;"
|+ Green garlic production <br><br/>
|-
| || 21.6
|-
| || 3.2
|-
| || 0.6
|-
| || 0.5
|-
| || 0.2
|-
| World || 29.7
|-
|colspan=2|
|}
In 2024, world production of garlic was 30 million tonnes, with China accounting for 73% of the total (table).
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Allium sativum 003.JPG|Bulbs (top-setting, grown in lieu of flowers)
File:Garlic plate no 6 bv73c1191 bk128b698 crop.jpeg|Garlic, from The Book of Health, 1898, by Henry Munson Lyman
File:Alliin Structural Formula V.1.svg|Alliin, a sulfur-containing compound found in garlic.
</gallery>
Adverse effects and toxicology
The scent of garlic is known to linger upon the human body and cause bad breath (halitosis) and body odor. Mixing garlic with milk in the mouth before swallowing reduced the odor better than drinking milk afterward. These rings can be linked together into polypyrrole molecules. Ring structures absorb particular wavelengths of light and thus appear colored. The two-pyrrole molecule looks red, the three-pyrrole molecule looks blue, and the four-pyrrole molecule looks green (like chlorophyll, a tetrapyrrole). Like chlorophyll, the pyrrole pigments are safe to eat. Upon cutting, similar to a color change in onion caused by reactions of amino acids with sulfur compounds, garlic can turn green.
The green, dry "folds" in the center of the garlic clove are especially pungent. The sulfur compound allicin, produced by crushing or chewing fresh garlic, On the basis of numerous reports of such burns, including burns to children, topical use of raw garlic, as well as insertion of raw garlic into body cavities, is discouraged.
The side effects of long-term garlic supplementation are largely unknown.
Some breastfeeding mothers have found, after consuming garlic, that their babies can be slow to feed, and have noted a garlic odor coming from them. Conversely an experiment showed, "infants were attached to the breast for longer periods of time and sucked more when the milk smelled like garlic".
If higher-than-recommended doses of garlic are taken with anticoagulant medications, this can lead to a higher risk of bleeding. Garlic may interact with warfarin,
<!--
{| class="toccolours" style="float:right; clear:right; font-size:80%; margin:0 0 1em 1em;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing=0
|- bgcolor=#EEE9BF
| colspan="2" align="center" |Components of garlic
|- bgcolor=#F5F5DC
| Phytochemicals || Nutrients
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Allicin || Calcium
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Beta-carotene || Folate
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Beta-sitosterol || Iron
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Caffeic acid || Magnesium
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Chlorogenic acid || Manganese
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Diallyl disulfide || Phosphorus
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Ferulic acid || Potassium
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Geraniol || Selenium
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Kaempferol || Zinc
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Linalool || Vitamin B<sub>1</sub> (Thiamine)
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Oleanolic acid || Vitamin B<sub>2</sub> (Riboflavin)
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| P-coumaric acid || Vitamin B<sub>3</sub> (Niacin)
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Phloroglucinol || Vitamin C
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Phytic acid ||
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Quercetin ||
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Rutin ||
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| S-Allyl cysteine ||
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Saponin ||
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Sinapic acid ||
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Stigmasterol ||
|- bgcolor=#ffffff
| Alliin ||
|- bgcolor=#F5F5DC
| colspan="2" align="center"|Source: Balch p 97
|} -->
Uses
Because of sulfur compounds circulating in blood, consumed garlic may act as a mosquito repellent, although there is no scientific evidence of its efficacy.
Nutrition
In the typical serving size of 1–3 cloves (3–9 grams), raw garlic provides no significant nutritional value, with the content of all essential nutrients below 10% of the Daily Value (DV). In a reference amount of , raw garlic contains some micronutrients in rich amounts (20% or more of the DV), including vitamins B6 (73% DV) and C (35% DV), and the dietary mineral, manganese (73% DV). Per 100 gram serving, raw garlic is a moderate source (10–19% DV) of the B vitamins, thiamin and pantothenic acid, as well as the dietary minerals, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc.
The composition of raw garlic is 59% water, 33% carbohydrates, 6% protein, 2% dietary fiber, and less than 1% fat.
Culinary
thumb|Garlic bulbs and cloves for sale at the Or Tor Kor market in [[Bangkok]]
alt=Fresh garlic bulbs arranged in crates under a market canopy in France.|thumb|Fresh garlic bulbs displayed at an outdoor market in France.
Garlic is widely used around the world for its pungent flavor as a seasoning or condiment.
The garlic plant's bulb is the most commonly used part of the plant. With the exception of the single clove types, garlic bulbs are normally divided into numerous fleshy sections called cloves. Garlic cloves are used for consumption (raw or cooked) or for medicinal purposes. They have a characteristic pungent, spicy flavor that mellows and sweetens considerably with cooking. The distinctive aroma is mainly due to organosulfur compounds including allicin present in fresh garlic cloves and ajoene which forms when they are crushed or chopped. A further metabolite allyl methyl sulfide is responsible for garlic breath.
Other parts of the garlic plant are also edible. The leaves and flowers (bulbils) on the head (spathe) are sometimes eaten. They are milder in flavor than the bulbs, When green garlic is allowed to grow past the "scallion" stage, but not permitted to fully mature, it may produce a garlic "round", a bulb like a boiling onion, but not separated into cloves like a mature bulb.
Green garlic imparts a garlic flavor and aroma in food, minus the spiciness. Green garlic is often chopped and stir-fried or cooked in soup or hot pot in Southeast Asian (i.e. Vietnamese, Thai, Myanmar, Lao, Cambodian, Singaporean), and Chinese cookery, and is very abundant and low-priced. Additionally, the immature flower stalks (scapes) of the hardneck are sometimes marketed for uses similar to asparagus in stir-fries.
thumb|Garlic plants
Inedible or rarely eaten parts of the garlic plant include the "skin" covering each clove and root cluster. The papery, protective layers of "skin" over various parts of the plant are generally discarded during preparation for most culinary uses, though in Korea immature whole heads are sometimes prepared with the tender skins intact. The root cluster attached to the basal plate of the bulb is the only part not typically considered palatable in any form.
An alternative is to cut the top off the bulb, coat the cloves by dribbling olive oil (or other oil-based seasoning) over them, and roast them in an oven. Garlic softens and can be extracted from the cloves by squeezing the (root) end of the bulb, or individually by squeezing one end of the clove. In Korea, heads of garlic are heated over the course of several weeks; the resulting product, called black garlic, is sweet and syrupy, and is used in the US, Europe and Australia, either produced domestically or imported.
Garlic may be applied to different kinds of bread, usually in a medium of butter or oil, to create a variety of classic dishes, such as garlic bread, garlic toast, bruschetta, crostini, and canapé. The flavor varies in intensity and aroma with the different cooking methods. It is often paired with onion, tomato, or ginger.
Immature scapes are tender and edible. They are also known as "garlic spears", "stems", or "tops". Scapes generally have a milder taste than the cloves. They are often used in stir frying or braised like asparagus. Latin American seasonings, particularly, use garlic in sofritos and mofongos.
Oils can be flavored with garlic cloves. These infused oils are used to season all categories of vegetables, meats, breads, and pasta. Garlic, along with fish sauce, chopped fresh chilis, lime juice, sugar, and water, is a basic essential item in dipping fish sauce, a highly used dipping sauce condiment used in Indochina. In East and Southeast Asia, chili oil with garlic is a popular dipping sauce, especially for meat and seafood. Tuong ot toi Viet Nam (Vietnam chili garlic sauce) is a highly popular condiment and dip across North America and Asia.
In some cuisines, the young bulbs are pickled for three to six weeks in a mixture of sugar, salt, and spices. In eastern Europe, the shoots are pickled and eaten as an appetizer. Laba garlic, prepared by soaking garlic in vinegar, is a type of pickled garlic served with dumplings in northern China to celebrate the Chinese New Year. In classical antiquity, garlic was a highly favored food among Jews, to the extent that the Mishnah uses the nickname "garlic eaters" (Mishnah, Nedarim 3:10).
Garlic was rare in traditional English cuisine (though it is said to have been grown in England before 1548) but has been a common ingredient in Mediterranean Europe. Translations of the Assize of Weights and Measures, an English statute generally dated to the 13th century, indicate a passage as dealing with standardized units of garlic production, sale, and taxation—the hundred of 15 ropes of 15 heads each—but the Latin version of the text may refer to herring rather than garlic.
Storage
thumb|String of garlic
Domestically, garlic is stored warm [above 18°C (64°F)] and dry to keep it dormant (to inhibit sprouting). It is traditionally hung; softneck varieties are often braided in strands called plaits or grappes. Peeled cloves may be stored in wine or vinegar in the refrigerator. Commercially, garlic is stored at 0°C (32°F), in a dry, low-humidity environment. Garlic will keep longer if the tops remain attached. Acidification with a mild solution of vinegar minimizes bacterial growth.
Stored garlic can be affected by Penicillium decay known as "blue mold" (or "green mold" in some locales), especially in high humidity. Infection may first appear as soft or water-soaked spots, followed by white patches (of mycelium) which turn blue or green with sporulation. As sporulation and germination are delayed at low temperature, and at −4 °C are inhibited entirely, in refrigerated cloves one may only see the white mycelium during early stages. Penicillium hirsutum and Penicillium allii are two of the predominant species identified in blue mold.
Medical research
Cardiovascular
As of 2016, clinical research found that consuming garlic produces only a small reduction in blood pressure (4 mmHg), and there is no clear long-term effect on hypertension, cardiovascular morbidity or mortality.
Because garlic might reduce platelet aggregation, people taking anticoagulant medication are cautioned about consuming garlic.
Cancer
Two reviews found no effect of consuming garlic on colorectal cancer. A 2016 meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies found a moderate inverse association between garlic intake and some cancers of the upper digestive tract.
Common cold
A 2014 review found insufficient evidence to determine the effects of garlic in preventing or treating the common cold. Other reviews concluded a similar absence of high-quality evidence for garlic having a significant effect on the common cold.
thumb|Harvesting garlic, from [[Tacuinum Sanitatis, 15th century (Bibliothèque nationale de France)]]
Folk medicine
Garlic has been used for traditional medicine in diverse cultures such as in Korea, Egypt, Japan, China, Rome, and Greece.
Other uses
The sticky juice within the bulb cloves is used as an adhesive in mending glass and porcelain.
In culture
Garlic is present in the folklore of many cultures. In Europe, many cultures have used garlic for protection or white magic, perhaps owing to its reputation in folk medicine. Leeks (which in this context includes garlic) also had a prominent role in Germanic paganism, with their functions including healing and providing protection against poison and magic.
In the foundation myth of the ancient Korean kingdom of Gojoseon, eating nothing but 20 cloves of garlic and a bundle of Korean mugwort for 100 days let a bear be transformed into a woman.
The Hebrew Bible recounts that during their journey in the wilderness, the Israelites yearned for garlic among other foods they had eaten in Egypt (Numbers, 11:5).
In Islam, it is recommended not to eat raw garlic prior to going to the mosque. This is based on several hadith.
Some Mahāyāna Buddhists and sects in China and Vietnam avoid eating onions, garlic, scallions, chives and leeks, which are known as Wu hun (, 'the five forbidden pungent vegetables').
Because of its strong odor, garlic is sometimes called the "stinking rose".
Gallery
<gallery mode=packed>
File:All Garlic Ail Ajo.jpg|Chopped garlic
File:Knoblauch Bluete 3.JPG|Garlic plant
File:Korea-Goheunggun-Garlic harvest 4196-06.JPG|Harvested garlic left to dry
File:A garlic clove and its head.jpg|A garlic bulb
File:Blended garlic confit.jpg|Blended garlic confit
</gallery>
See also
- Garlic oil
- Garlic sauce
- Herbalism
- International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants
- List of garlic dishes
- List of garlic festivals
- Pyruvate scale