Garlic

? Garlic
Garlic plants
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Liliopsida Order: Asparagales Family: Alliaceae Subfamily: Allioideae Tribe: Allieae Genus: Allium Species: A. sativum
Binomial name
Allium sativum L.

Garlic (Allium sativum) is a perennial plant in the family Alliaceae and genus Allium, closely related to the onion, shallot, and leek. It does not grow in the wild, and is thought to have arisen in cultivation, probably descended from the species Allium longicuspis, which grows wild in south-western Asia. Garlic has been used throughout all of recorded history for both culinary and medicinal purposes.

The portion of the plant most often consumed is an underground storage structure called a head. A head of garlic is composed of a dozen or more discrete cloves, each of which is a botanical bulb, an underground structure comprised of thickened leaf bases. Each garlic clove is made up of just one leaf base, unlike onions, which are composed of numerous leaf layers. The above-ground portions of the garlic plant are also sometimes consumed, particularly while immature and tender.

Garlic has a powerful pungent or "hot" flavour when raw, which mellows considerably when it is cooked. Raw or cooked, garlic is noted for its strong characteristic odor, and for giving those who eat it a distinctive breath odor as well. Some cultures accept the odor of garlic more than others. Northern European cuisines, for example, use garlic only modestly and tend to cook it for long periods of time to diminish its strength.

Biology and chemistry

Because of its wide cultivation, the origins of garlic are not fully certain. It is related to onions and lilies, and cultivated in the same manner as the shallot. The domesticated garlic plant does not produce seeds, but is grown from bulbs. These bulbs, whose segments are usually called "cloves" by cooks, are the part of the plant most commonly eaten, though some cooks also use the early spring shoots. These shoots are often pickled in Russia and states of the Caucasus and eaten as an appetizer. A common error of beginning cooks is to misinterpret the word "clove" as meaning the entire garlic bulb, rather than one of its segments, thereby wildly exaggerating the amount of garlic in a recipe.

A garlic bulb is generally four to eight centimeters in diameter, white to pinkish or purple, and is composed of numerous (8 - 25) discrete cloves. The foliage comprises a central stem 25 - 100 cm tall, with flat or keeled (but not tubular) leaves 30 - 60 cm long and 2 - 3 cm broad. The flowers are produced in a small cluster at the top of the stem, often together with several bulblets, and surrounded by a papery basal spathe; each flower is white, pink or purple, with six tepals 3 - 5 millimetres long. The flowers are commonly abortive and rarely produce any seeds.

The garlic plant has long, narrow, flat, obscurely keeled leaves. The bulb has a flaky, mostly white outer layers of skin like that of an onion. Inside are 2-20 cloves, or smaller bulbs. From these, new bulbs can be procured by planting out in late winter or early spring.

The percentage composition of the bulbs is given by E. Solly (Trans. Hon. Soc. Loud., new ser., iii. p. 60) as water 84.09 %, organic matter 13.38 %, and inorganic matter 1.53 % - that of the leaves being water 87.14 %, organic matter 11.27 % and inorganic matter 1.59 %.

Like other members of the onion family, garlic actually creates the chemicals that give it its sharp flavor when the plant's cells are damaged. When a cell of a garlic clove is broken by chopping, chewing, or crushing, enzymes stored in cell vacuoles trigger the breakdown of several sulfur-containing compounds stored in the cell fluids. The resultant compounds are responsible for the sharp or hot taste and strong smell of garlic. Some of the compounds are unstable and continue to evolve over time. Among the members of the onion family, garlic has by far the highest concentrations of initial reaction products, making garlic much more potent than onions, shallots, or leeks. Although people have come to enjoy the taste of garlic, these compounds are believed to have evolved as a defensive mechanism, deterring animals like birds, insects, and worms from eating the plant.

A large number of sulfur compounds contribute to the smell and taste of garlic. Diallyl disulfide is believed to be an important odor component. Allicin has been found to be the compound most responsible for the spiciness of raw garlic. This chemical opens thermoTRP ( transient receptor potential) channels that are responsible for the burning sense of heat in foods. The process of cooking garlic removes allicin, thus mellowing its spiciness.

Cultivation

Selfsufficientish.com provides the following growing instructions:

• Plant the individual cloves from a garlic plant in drills of 5 cm (2 in) and 15 cm (6 in) apart. Ideal soil pH is in the 6.2 to 6.8 range.
• Garlic grows best in hot wet conditions, but try it all year round. It is pretty hardy and will live through frosts.
• Ensure that the growing area is weed free.
• Garlic likes water; in a hot climate it may need to be watered daily. If the shoots look dry then it is a sign that the plant needs a 'drink'.

Garlic is ready to harvest about four months after it has been sown. At this point the foliage will lose its colour and die back. Dig up the bulbs with a fork to avoid damaging them.

Uses

Culinary use

Garlic is most often used as a seasoning or a condiment. When crushed or finely chopped it yields allicin, a powerful antibiotic and anti-fungal compound ( phytoncide). It also contains alliin, ajoene, enzymes, vitamin B, minerals, and flavonoids.

Garlic is widely used in many forms of cooking for its strong flavor, which is considered to enhance many other flavors. Depending on the form of cooking and the desired result, the flavor is either mellow or intense. It is often paired with onion and tomato.

In culinary preparation, it is necessary to remove the parchment-like skin from individual cloves before chopping. Lightly crushing the cloves with the ball of the hand or flat of a knife makes this job much easier.

When eaten in quantity, garlic may be strongly evident in the diner's sweat and breath the following day. This is because garlic's strong smelling sulfur compounds are metabolized forming allyl methyl sulfide. Allyl methyl sulfide (AMS) cannot be digested and is passed into the blood. It is carried to the lungs and the skin where it is excreted. Since digestion takes several hours, and release of AMS several hours more, the effect of eating garlic may be present for a long time.

The well-known phenomenon of "garlic breath" is alleged to be alleviated by eating fresh parsley. This is therefore included in many garlic recipes. However since garlic breath results mainly from digestive processes placing compounds such as AMS in the blood, and AMS is then released through the lungs over the course of many hours, eating parsley is at best a temporary fix. Because of its strong odor, garlic is sometimes called the "stinking rose".

Hardneck garlic varieties feature a seedpod that grows atop a leafless stalk known as a "scape". Immature scapes are tender and edible. They are also known as "garlic spears", "stems", or "tops". Scapes generally have a milder taste than cloves. They are often used in stir frying or prepared like asparagus.

Medicinal use

Components of garlic
Phytochemicals	Nutrients
Allicin	Calcium
Beta-carotene	Folate
Beta-sitosterol	Iron
Caffeic acid	Magnesium
Chlorogenic acid	Manganese
Diallyl disulfide	Phosphorus
Ferulic acid	Potassium
Geraniol	Selenium
Kaempferol	Zinc
Linalool	Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
Oleanolic acid	Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)
P-coumaric acid	Vitamin B3 (Niacin)
Phloroglucinol	Vitamin C
Phytic acid
Quercetin
Rutin
S-Allyl cysteine
Saponin
Sinapic acid
Stigmasterol
Alliin
Source: Balch p 97

Some scientific research indicates that garlic can have some health benefits, such as diminishment of platelet aggregation; a meta-analysis showing significant (12%) lipid lowering of cholesterol, triglycerides, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol; treatment of hyperlipidaemia; the significant inhibition of atherosclerosis via the use of aged garlic extract Kyolic; and the protective nature of chronic garlic intake on elastic properties of aorta in the elderly. Regular and prolonged use of therapeutic amounts of aged garlic extracts lower blood homocysteine levels, and prevent some complications of diabetes mellitus.

In modern naturopathy, garlic is used as a treatment for intestinal worms.

Garlic cloves continue to be used by aficionados as a remedy for infections (especially chest problems), digestive disorders, and fungal infections such as thrush. They are claimed to be an effective long-term remedy for cardiovascular problems reducing excessive blood cholesterol levels, atherosclerosis, the risk of thrombosis, and hypertension but these claims are disputed, as there has been no clinical trial that has demonstrated any such benefits. Whole cloves used as suppositories are sometimes used as a home remedy for Candidiasis (yeast infections). Garlic is also alleged to help regulate blood sugar levels, and so can be helpful in late-onset diabetes, though people taking insulin should not consume medicinal amounts of garlic without consulting a physician. In such applications, garlic must be fresh and uncooked, or the allicin will be lost.

Dietary supplements in pill form, such as Garlique, claim to posess the medical benefits of garlic, without (in the words of the Garlique manufacturer) "the unsocial qualities associated with fresh garlic cloves".

History

From the earliest times garlic has been used as an article of diet. It is the most widely used component of the Lebanese Cuisine. Many Lebanese Salads contains a garlic sauce. It formed part of the food of the Israelites in Egypt (Numb. xi. 5) and of the labourers employed by Khufu in the construction of his pyramid. Garlic is still grown in Egypt, where, however, the Syrian is the kind most esteemed (see Rawlinson's Herodotus, 2.125).

It was largely consumed by the ancient Greek and Roman soldiers, sailors and rural classes (cf. Virg. Ed. ii. II), and, as Pliny tells us (N.H. xix. 32), by the African peasantry. Galen eulogizes it as the "rustic's theriac" (cure-all) (see F Adams's Paulus Aegineta, p. 99), and Alexander Neckam, a writer of the 12th century (see Wright's edition of his works, p. 473, 1863), recommends it as a palliative of the heat of the sun in field labor.

Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, (N.H. xx. 23) gives an exceedingly long list of scenarios in which it was considered beneficial. Dr. T. Sydenham valued it as an application in confluent smallpox, and, says Cullen (Mat. Med. ii. p. 174, 1789), found some dropsies cured by it alone. Early in the 20th century, it was sometimes used in the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis or phthisis.

Garlic was rare in traditional English cuisine (though it is stated to have been grown in England before 1548), and a much more common ingredient in western and southern Europe, notably in French cuisine. Garlic was placed by the ancient Greeks on the piles of stones at cross-roads, as a supper for Hecate ( Theophrastus, Characters, The Superstitious Man); and according to Pliny, garlic and onions were invoked as deities by the Egyptians at the taking of oaths. The inhabitants of Pelusium in lower Egypt, who worshipped the onion, are said to have held both it and garlic in aversion as food.

To prevent the plant from running to leaf, Pliny (Nat. Hist. xix. 34) advised bending the stalk downward and covering with earth; seeding, he observes, may be prevented by twisting the stalk (by "seeding", he mostly likely means the development of small, less potent bulbs).

Superstition and religion

Garlic has been seen as a force for both good and evil. A Christian myth says that after Satan left the Garden of Eden, garlic arose in his left footprint, and onion in the right. Even in Europe, though, many cultures have turned to garlic as a protective force or white magic, maybe because of its reputation as a powerful preventative medicine. Central European superstitions considered garlic a powerful ward against devils, werewolves, and vampires. To ward off vampires, garlic could be worn on one's person, hung in windows, or rubbed on chimneys and keyholes.

Classification

Classification of culinary garlic can be complex, with numerous cultivars being grown. The broadest division is into "hardneck" and "softneck" types; very broadly speaking, hardnecks have more intense flavours (which are more closely related to their wild ancestor) but lesser storage capabilities, while conversely softnecks are excellent "keepers" but often milder (those are broad-brush simplifications with numerous exceptions and half-exceptions). Within those two types, there are usually felt to be three subdivisions of hardnecks and two of softnecks.

The "wild garlic", "crow garlic" and "field garlic" of Britain are the species Allium ursinum, A. vineale and A. oleraceum, respectively. In North America, "wild garlic" or "crow garlic" is Allium vineale, and along with "wild onion" (also known as "meadow garlic" or "wild garlic") Allium canadensis, are common weeds in fields. Elephant garlic is a variant of the leek species, A. ampeloprasum, and is larger and milder than true garlic.

Preservation

The types differ not only in culinary qualities, but in storage potential. Under good storage conditions, which are not hard to achieve (room temperature and medium to low humidity), one can hope for these results:

• Asiatic and Turban types: a few months
• Rocambole and Purple Stripe types: 6 months
• Porcelain and Artichoke types: 8 to 10 months
• Silverskin (including Creole) types: up to a full year

Rocamboles, however, have a tendency to dehydrate in storage under dry conditions (less than about 50% humidity).

The bulbs are best preserved hung in a dry place. If of fair size, four to six of them weigh about 500 g (1 lb).

Do not store garlic in oil at room temperature. See Caution, below.

Caution

• Cases of botulism have been caused by consuming garlic-in-oil preparations. It is important to add acid when creating these mixtures and to keep them refrigerated to retard bacterial growth.
• While culinary quantities are generally safe, during pregnancy and lactation it can cause digestive problems such as heartburn, and babies may dislike the taste in breast milk.
• The medicinal effects of taking garlic long-term are largely unknown, and no FDA approved study has been performed.

Trivia

• In the United States, Gilroy, California promotes itself as "Garlic Capital of the World", and hosts the Gilroy Garlic Festival every summer.
• In 2005, a poll of 2,000 people revealed garlic to be Britain's 5th favourite culinary vegetable.