The meaning of the symbols of garlic seen in a dream.

See also Onions.

Nutritional Profile Energy value (calories per serving): Low Protein: Moderate Fat: Low Saturated fat: Low Cholesterol: None Carbohydrates: High Fiber: High Sodium: Low Major vitamin contribution: Vitamin C Major mineral contribution: Iron, selenium

About the Nutrients in This Food Although raw garlic has some fiber and protein plus vitamins and minerals, we rarely eat enough garlic to get useful amounts of these nutrients. Source: USDA Nut rient Data Laborator y. Nat ional Nut rient Database for Standard Reference. Available online. UR L : http://w w w.nal.usda. gov/fnic/foodcomp/search /. Elephant garlic, a cross between an onion and garlic that may grow as large as a grapefruit, has a milder flavor than regular garlic. Garlic contains alliin and allicin, two sulfur compounds with antibi- otic activity. In a number of laboratory experiments, garlic juice appears to inhibit the growth of a broad variety of bacteria, yeast, and fungi growing in test tubes, but its effects on human beings have yet to be proven.

Diets That May Restrict or Exclude This Food Antiflatulence diet Bland diet

Buying This Food Look for: Firm, solid cloves with tight clinging skin. If the skin is paper y and pulling away from the cloves and the head feels light for its size, the garlic has withered or rotted away inside.

The Most Nutritious Way to Serve This Food Fresh.

Storing This Food Store garlic in a cool, dark, air y place to keep it from dr ying out or sprouting. ( When garlic sprouts, diallyl disulfide—the sulfur compound that gives fresh garlic its distinctive taste and odor—goes into the new growth and the garlic itself becomes milder.) A n unglazed ceramic “garlic keeper” will protect the garlic from moisture while allowing air to circulate freely around the head and cloves. Properly stored, garlic will keep for several months. Do not refrigerate garlic unless you live in a very hot and humid climate.

Preparing This Food To peel garlic easily, blanch the cloves in boiling water for about 30 seconds, then drain and cool. Slice off the root end, and the skin should come right off without sticking to your fin- gers. Or you can put a head of fresh, raw garlic on a flat surface and hit the flat end with the flat side of a knife. The head will come apart and the skin should come off easily. To get the most “garlicky” taste from garlic cloves, chop or mash them or extract the oil with a garlic press. When you cut into a garlic clove, you tear its cell walls, releasing an enzyme that converts sulfur compounds in the garlic into ammonia, pyruvic acid, and diallyl disulfide.

What Happens When You Cook This Food Heating garlic destroys its diallyl disulfide, which is why cooked garlic is so much milder tasting than raw garlic.

How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food Drying. Drying removes moisture from garlic but leaves the oils intact. Powdered garlic and garlic salt should be stored in a cool, dry place to keep their oils from turning rancid. Garlic salt is much higher in sodium than either raw garlic, garlic powder, or dried garlic flakes.

Medical Uses and/or Benefits Protection against some cancers. The organic sulfur compounds in garlic and onions appear to reduce the risk of some forms of cancer perhaps by preventing the formation of carcinogens in your body or by blocking carcinogens from reaching or reacting with sensitive body tis- sues or by inhibiting the transformation of healthy cells to malignant ones. Protection against circulatory diseases. In a number of laboratory studies during the 1980s, adding garlic oil to animal feeds reduced levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), the fat and protein particles that carry cholesterol into your arteries, and raised levels of high density lipoproteins (HDLs), the particles that carry cholesterol out of the body. However, current studies are contradictory. One year-long study at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center showed that daily doses of aged garlic (brand name Kyolic) appeared to reduce the formation of cholesterol deposits in arteries while lowering blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid the American Heart Association calls an independent risk factor for heart disease. But another study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a division of the National Institutes of Health, to determine the safety and effec- tiveness of garlic showed that neither fresh garlic nor powdered garlic nor garlic tablets have any effect on cholesterol levels.

Adverse Effects Associated with This Food Body odor, halitosis. Diallyl disulfide is excreted in perspiration and in the air you exhale, which is why eating garlic makes you smell garlicky.

Food/Drug Interactions Anticoagulants (blood thinners). Garlic appears to reduce blood’s ability to clot, thus increas- ing the effect of anticoagulants, including aspirin. NCCAM recommends using garlic with caution before surgery, including dental surgery. Patients who have a clotting disorder should consult their own doctors before using garlic.

Allium sativum

Liliaceae

San: Lasunah, Rasonah;

Hin:Lasun, Lahasun;

Ben: Lashan;

Mal: Vellulli;

Kan: Belluli;

Tam: Vellaipuntu; Mar: Lasunas; Ass: Naharu; Tel:Vellulli, Tella-gadda;

Guj: Lasan

Importance: Garlic is one of the important bulb crops used as a spice or condiment with medicinal value throughout the world. It possesses high nutritive value. Its preparations are useful in vitiated conditions of kapha and vata, cough, whooping cough, bronchitis, asthma, fever, facial paralysis, flatulence, colic, constipation, atonic dyspepsia, helminthiasis, duodenal ulcers, pulmonary and laryngeal tuberculosis, opthalmopathy, cardiopathy, fatigue, leucoderma, leprosy, hysteria, haemorrhoids, sciatica, otalgia, lumbago, swellings, splenopathy, hepatopathy, pneumonopathy, anthralgia, sore eyes, ear ache and dental caries (Kumar et al, 1997).

Distribution: Garlic is a native of Southern Europe and it is cultivated all over the world.. It is grown throughout India; Gujarat and Orissa being the leading states.

Botany: The genus Allium of Liliaceae family comprises a number of species. The important ones are the following:

A. sativum Linn. syn. A. porrum Linn.

A. cepa Linn.

A. ampeloprasum Linn.

A. ascalonicum Linn. A. leptophyllum Wall. A. macleanii Baker.

A. schoenoprasum Linn.

A. tuberosum Roxb.

Allium sativum is a scapigerous foetid perennial medicinal herb with underground compound bulbs covered over by outer white thin scales and with simple smooth, round stem, surrounded at the bottom by tubular leaf sheath. The leaves are simple, long, flat and linear. The flowers are small and white arranged in rounded umbels mixed with small bulbils. The entire umbel is enclosed in a tear-drop-shaped membranous spathe. Flowers are usually sterile (Warrier et al, 1993).

Agrotechnology: Garlic can be grown under a wide range of climatic conditions. It prefers moderate temperature in summer as well as in winter. Short days are very favourable for the formation of bulbs. Garlic requires well drained loamy soils rich in humus, with fairly good content of potash. Garlic is propagated by cloves or bulblets. In the hills, sowing is done in April and May. Types with bold and compact cloves and thick white covering sheath are preferred for planting. Ootty-1 garlic is an improved variety by clonal selection released from TNAU, Coimbatore. Garlic may be broadcast, planted in furrows or dibbled at the rate of 150-200kg cloves/ha. In furrow planting, cloves are dropped 7.5-10cm apart in furrows 15cm deep and covered lightly with loose soil. Cloves may be dibbled 5 to 7.5cm deep and 7.5cm apart in rows which are 15cm apart with their growing end upwards and then covered with loose soil. A basal dose of 60kg N and 50kg each of P2O5 and K2O are applied along with 25t/ha of FYM. 60kg N is given as topdressing 45 days after planting. First irrigation is given immediately after sowing and subsequent irrigations are given at 10-15 days interval depending upon the soil moisture availability. The last irrigation should be given 2-3 days before harvesting to facilitate easy harvest and minimum damage to bulbs. First weeding and hoeing is to be done at one mo nth after sowing followed by a second weeding one month after first interculture. Hoeing at about two and a half months from sowing loosens the soil and helps in setting of bigger and well-filled bulbs. Garlic is attacked by Thrips tabacii which causes withering of leaves. Application of methyl demeton 25EC or dimethoate 30EC at 1ml/l will check the pest incidence. Leaf spot caused by Alternaria solanii can be controlled by spraying Dithane M.45 at fortnightly intervals at 2.5g/l of water. Garlic is harvested when the tops turn yellowish or brownish and show signs of drying up. The plants are uprooted, tied into small bundles and kept in shade for 2-3 days for curing. Average yield of garlic is 6-8t/ha. (Kumar et al, 1997.)

Properties and activity: Garlic bulb is reported to contain volatile oil, alliin (S-allyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide), S-methyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide and allinase. It is rich in vitamins like thiamine, riboflavine and niacin. Volatile oil contains allicin (diallyl thiosulphinate), an active odour principle of garlic. Other major compounds present are diallyl disulphide, diallyl trisulphide, allyl methyl trisulphide and allyl methyl disulphide (Husain et al., 1992).

Garlic bulb is antirheumatic, stimulant, diaphoretic, expectorant, diuretic, antispasmodic, astringent, antiparalytic, antileprotic, aperient, febrifuge, carminative, stomachic, alterative and emmenagogue. The essential oil is hypocholestrolemic, hypotensive, antitumour and antidiabetic. Diallyl disulphide and diallyl trisulphide from essential oil have larvicidal action. Bulbs also have anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal activity.

Allium sativum L. German: Knoblauch. French: Ail. Italian: Aglio. Arabic: Som. Indian: Lashuna. Chinese: Swan. Iranian: Sir. Malayan: Bawang puteh. Bulb. Contains allicin, amino acids; iodine, selenium, sulphur and other minerals. Pliny, of ancient Rome, advised Garlic for more than 60 different health problems. A valued medicament to the civilisations of China, Egypt, Chaldea and Greece. Constituents: volatile oils, B group vitamins, minerals.

Action: antibiotic, bacteriostatic, anti-parasitic, anti-viral, anti-carcinogen, antispasmodic, antiseptic, fungicide, anti-thrombic, cholagogue, diaphoretic, hypoglycaemia, hypotensor, expectorant, anthelmintic. A wide range of anti-infection activity reported. Hypolipidaemic. Non-sedating antihistamine. Anticoagulant – reduces blood platelet clumping, raises HDL. Lowers total cholesterol after a fatty meal in normal subjects. As a vasodilator tends to reduce blood pressure. Bacteria do not become resistant to it. (Dr Stephen Fulder) Detoxifier.

Uses: Prevents build-up of cholesterol in the blood. Lowers a too high blood pressure and raises one too low. Beneficial in thrombosis and arteriosclerosis.

“Helps clear fat accumulating in blood vessels, reducing the tendency to heart disease: also can drastically reduce the level of sugar in the blood, which could help diabetics.” (Lancet i 607, 1979)

Bronchitis (loosening phlegm), asthma, cough, whooping cough and as a preventative of influenza and colds. Sinusitis; catarrh of the stomach, throat and nose. Catarrhal discharge from the eyes returning every night; catarrhal deafness. Intestinal worms. To stimulate bile for digestion of fats. Mucous colitis, allergies including hay fever, ear infections, paroxysmal sneezing, candida and some other fungus infections, vaginal trichomoniasis.

“Anti-tumour activity reported.” (Y. Kimura and K. Yamamoto, Gann, 55, 325 (1964); Chem. Abstra, 63, 1089d 919650)

The therapeutically active ingredients of Garlic are the smelly ones. Deodorised Garlic has not the efficacy of the odoriferous. (Dr Stephen Fulder, JAM Feb. 1986) Chewed Parsley may mask the odour of Garlic on the breath.

Preparations: Fresh clove: eaten at meals.

Fresh juice: half-1 teaspoon in honey or water.

Capsules: one before meals or three at night to prevent infection.

Powder: 300mg capsules; 5-10 capsules twice daily during meals.

Tincture BHP (1983): 1:5 in 45 per cent alcohol. Dose, 2-4ml in water.

Compress: mashed clove or oil on suitable material.

Ear or nasal drops: pierce Garlic capsule and squeeze oil into ear or nose for infection. Notes. Source of the important trace element, Germanium. Combines well with Echinacea. 

Allium sativum

FAMILY: Amaryllidaceae or Liliaceae

SYNONYMS: Common garlic, allium, poor man’s treacle!

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A strongly scented perennial herb up to 1.2 metres 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.

DISTRIBUTION: It is said to have originated in south west 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.

OTHER SPECIES: Closely related to the wild or wood garlic (A. ursinum) also known as ‘ramsons’. There are also many other wild species with similar but less pronounced properties.

HERBAL/FOLK TRADITION: It has been used for thousands of years for its medicinal virtues: for respiratory and urinary tract infections; digestive disorders and infestations; skin eruptions; heart disease, high blood pressure and arteriosclerosis, as well as epidemics and fever. It was used in the First World War for preventing gangrene and sepsis.

It has a high reputation in the East: in China it is used for diarrhoea, dysentery, tuberculosis, diphtheria, hepatitis, ringworm, typhoid and trachoma, among others. It is also held in high regard in the West: specific in the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia for chronic bronchitis. Its properties have been attested to by modern experimental and clinical research.

ACTIONS: Amoebicidal, anthelmintic, antibiotic, antimicrobial, antiseptic, antitoxic, antitumour, antiviral, bactericidal, carminative, cholagogue, hypocholesterolemic, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, fungicidal, hypoglycaemic, hypotensive, insecticidal, larvicidal, promotes leucocytosis, stomachic, tonic.

EXTRACTION: Essential oil by steam distillation from the fresh crushed bulbs.

CHARACTERISTICS: A colourless to pale yellow mobile liquid with a strong, unpleasant, familiar garlic-like odour.

PRINCIPAL CONSTITUENTS: Allicin, allylpropyl disulphide, diallyl disulphide, diallyl trisulphide, citral, geraniol, linalol, phellandrene, among others.

SAFETY DATA: Generally non-toxic and non-irritant, although it has been known to irritate the stomach; may also cause sensitization in some individuals.

AROMATHERAPY/HOME: USE Due to its unpleasant and pervasive smell, the oil is not often used externally. However, the capsules may be taken internally according to the instructions on the label for respiratory and gastro-intestinal infections, urinary tract infections such as cystitis, heart and circulatory problems, and to fight infectious diseases in general.

OTHER USES: The 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. Extensively employed as a flavour ingredient in most major food categories, especially savouries.

Protection, Healing, Exorcism, Lust, Anti-Theft