Garlic

Garlic is very common food seasoning with characteristic and pervasive smell. It belongs to Amaryllidaceae or Liliaceae family and it scientific name is Allium sativum.

It is a strongly scented perennial herb up to 1.2 meters high with long, flat, firm leaves and whitish flowering stems. The bulb is made up of several cloves pressed together within a thin white skin.

It is said to have originated in southwest Siberia and then spread to Europe and Central Asia. It is naturalized in North America and cultivated worldwide. Major oil-producing countries include Egypt, Bulgaria, France, China, Germany and Japan.

The extraction of garlic essential oil is done by steam distillation from fresh crushed bulbs; it is a colourless to pale yellow mobile liquid with strong, unpleasant, familiar garlic-like odour. It main constituents are allicin, allylpropyl disulphide, diallyl disulphide, diallyl trisulphide, citral, geraniol, linalool, phellandrene, among others.

This oil is made into capsules and also included in many health food products mainly to help reduce high blood pressure and protect against heart disease, it is also extensively employed as a flavour ingredient in most major food categories, especially savouries.