Interested in trying our FREE 7-day healthy diet plan? Garlic is one of the oldest cultivated garlic bread dipping sauce in the world, and is a hardy perennial belonging to the Liliaceae family.

Other members of this family include onions, leeks, chives and shallots. They are distinguished by their pungent aroma and distinctive flavour. The bulb is the most commonly used part of the garlic plant and is typically composed of eight to 20 individual teardrop-shaped cloves enclosed in a white, parchment-like skin. This sulphur-containing compound gives garlic its pungent smell and distinctive taste. Garlic may also lower blood pressure through its ability to widen blood vessels, allowing blood to flow more freely. Russian penicillin’ to denote its antibacterial properties, which is once again attributed to the compound allicin. Studies also suggest the consumption of garlic may give some relief from the inflammatory symptoms of osteoarthritis.

They both contain a variety of compounds with medicinal properties, including antibacterial and antifungal effects. But wild garlic has been found to have an even greater effect on lowering blood pressure than regular garlic. Garlic poses few safety issues and allergies are rare. If you take garlic supplements for cholesterol management, have your cholesterol levels checked after three months. Please note that some people may experience indigestion, intestinal gas or diarrhoea when taking high doses of garlic.

Take inspiration from our garlic recipes. This article was last reviewed on 6 October 2021 by Kerry Torrens. Over the past 15 years she has been a contributing author to a number of nutritional and cookery publications including BBC Good Food. If you have any concerns about your general health, you should contact your local health care provider.

This website is published by Immediate Media Company Limited under licence from BBC Studios Distribution. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Allium sativum, known as garlic, from William Woodville, Medical Botany, 1793. Allium sativum is a perennial flowering plant growing from a bulb. The leaf blade is flat, linear, solid, and approximately 1. The plant may produce pink to purple flowers from July to September in the Northern Hemisphere. Identification of the wild progenitor of common garlic is difficult due to the sterility of its many cultivars, which limits the ability to cross test with wild relatives.

Allium sativum grows in the wild in areas where it has become naturalized. There are two subspecies of A. Döll, called Ophioscorodon, or hard-necked garlic, includes porcelain garlics, rocambole garlic, and purple stripe garlics. It is sometimes considered to be a separate species, Allium ophioscorodon G. There are at least 120 cultivars originating from Central Asia, making it the main center of garlic biodiversity.

Garlic is easy to grow and can be grown 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. Garlic plants can be grown closely together, leaving enough space for the bulbs to mature, and are easily grown in containers of sufficient depth. When selecting garlic for planting, it is important to pick large bulbs from which to separate cloves. There are different varieties of garlic, most notably split into the subspecies of hardneck garlic and softneck garlic. The latitude where the garlic is grown affects the choice of type, as garlic can be day-length sensitive.

Garlic scapes are removed to focus all the garlic’s energy into bulb growth. The scapes can be eaten raw or cooked. Garlic plants are usually hardy and not affected by many pests or diseases. Garlic plants are said to repel rabbits and moles. 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.

The phytochemicals responsible for the sharp flavor of garlic are produced when the plant’s cells are damaged. Among alliums, garlic has by far the highest concentrations of initial reaction products, making garlic much more potent than onion, shallot, or leeks. Although many humans enjoy the taste of garlic, these compounds are believed to have evolved as a defensive mechanism, deterring animals such as birds, insects, and worms from eating the plant. A large number of sulfur compounds contribute to the smell and taste of garlic. Allicin has been found to be the compound most responsible for the “hot” sensation of raw garlic. This chemical opens thermo-transient receptor potential channels that are responsible for the burning sense of heat in foods.