Garlic

Health Benefits

What's New and Beneficial About Garlic

• You can increase the health benefits you receive from garlic by letting it sit after you've chopped it or crushed it. If you give your chopped/crushed garlic time to sit before changing its temperature (through cooking) or its pH (through the addition of low-acid foods like lemon juice), it will give the alliinase enzymes in garlic an opportunity to work on behalf of your health. For example, in the absence of chopping or crushing, research has shown that just 60 seconds of immediate microwaving will cause garlic to lose some of its cancer-protective properties. Immediate boiling of whole, intact garlic will also lower these properties, as will immediate addition of a very low-acid ingredient like lemon juice.
• Some of garlic's unique components are most durable in food (versus processed extract) form. Allicin-one of garlic's most highly valued sulfur compounds-stays intact for only 2-16 hours at room temperature when it is present in purified (extracted) form. But when it's still inside of crushed garlic, allicin will stay viable for 2-1/2 days.
• Garlic may help improve your iron metabolism. That's because the diallyl sulfides in garlic can help increase production of a protein called ferroportin. (Ferroportin is a protein that runs across the cell membrane, and it forms a passageway that allows stored iron to leave the cells and become available where it is needed.)
• In addition to being a good source of selenium, garlic may be a more reliable source as well. Garlic is what scientists call a "seleniferous" plant: it can uptake selenium from the soil even when soil concentrations do not favor this uptake.
• The cardioprotective benefits of garlic may partly rest on the production of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas. Our red blood cells can take sulfur-containing molecules in garlic (called polysulfides) and use them to produce H2S. This H2S in turn can help our blood vessels expand and keep our blood pressure in check. Interestingly, some processed garlic extracts cannot be used by our red blood cells in the same way and do not seem to provide the same level of cardioprotection that is provided by garlic in food form.
• While still in its very early stages, research suggests that garlic consumption may actually help to regulate the number of fat cells that get formed in our body. 1,2-DT (1,2-vinyldithiin) is one of the unique sulfur compounds in garlic that has long been recognized as having anti-inflammatory properties. But only recently have researchers discovered that some of our fibroblastic cells (called "preadipocytes") only evolve into full-fledged fat cells (called "adipocytes") under certain metabolic circumstances involving inflammatory system activity. 1,2-DT may be able to inhibit this conversion process. Since obesity is increasingly viewed by researchers as a chronic state of low-grade inflammation, the inflammation-related benefits of garlic's 1,2-DT may eventually be extended into the clinical area of obesity.

 Recommendations

With their unique combination of flavonoids and sulfur-containing nutrients, allium vegetables-such as garlic-belong in your diet on a regular basis. There's research evidence for including at least one serving of an allium vegetable-such as garlic-in your meal plan every day. If you're choosing garlic as your allium family vegetable, try to include at least ½ clove in your individual food portion. If you're preparing a recipe, we recommend at least 1-2 cloves.
Garlic is a wonderful seasoning to add aroma, taste, and added nutrition to your dishes. We often recommend using raw chopped or pressed garlic in many of our dishes to take advantage of the benefits derived from garlic. However, if you cannot tolerate raw garlic, you can add chopped garlic to foods while they are cooking. It is best to add it towards the end of the cooking process to retain the maximum amount of flavor and nutrition


This chart graphically details the %DV that a serving of Garlic provides for each of the nutrients of which it is a good, very good, or excellent source according to our Food Rating System. Additional information about the amount of these nutrients provided by Garlic can be found in the Food Rating System Chart. A link that takes you to the In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Garlic, featuring information over 80 nutrients, can be found under the Food Rating System Chart.
Whole books have been written about garlic, an herb affectionately called "the stinking rose" in light of its numerous therapeutic benefits. A member of the lily or Allium family, which also includes onions and leeks, garlic is rich in a variety of powerful sulfur-containing compounds including thiosulfinates (of which the best known compound is allicin), sulfoxides (among which the best known compound is alliin), and dithiins (in which the most researched compound is ajoene). While these compounds are responsible for garlic's characteristically pungent odor, they are also the source of many of its health-promoting effects.
More recent research has identified additional sulfur-containing compounds that are responsible for garlic's star status as a health-supporting food. These sulfur compounds include 1,2-vinyldithiin (1,2-DT), and thiacremonone. The hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S) that can be made from garlic's sulfides has also been the subject of great research interest. When produced and released from our red blood cells, this H2S gas can help dilate our blood vessels and help keep our blood pressure under control.
Finally, when thinking about the sulfur compounds in garlic, it is important to remember that sulfur itself is a key part of our health. Several research studies have noted that the average U.S. diet may be deficient in sulfur, and that foods rich in sulfur may be especially important for our health. In addition to all of the sulfur-related compounds listed above, garlic is an excellent source of manganese, a very good source of vitamin B6 and vitamin C and a good source of selenium.

Health Benefits and Uses in

Cardiovascular Benefits

Most of the research on garlic and our cardiovascular system has been conducted on garlic powder, garlic oil, or aged garlic extracts rather than garlic in food form. But despite this research limitation, food studies on garlic show this allium vegetable to have important cardioprotective properties. Garlic is clearly able to lower our blood triglycerides and total cholesterol, even though this reduction can be moderate (5-15%).
But cholesterol and triglyceride reduction are by no means garlic's most compelling benefits when it comes to cardioprotection. Those top-level benefits clearly come in the form of blood cell and blood vessel protection from inflammatory and oxidative stress. Damage to blood vessel linings by highly reactive oxygen molecules is a key factor for increasing our risk of cardiovascular problems, including heart attack and atherosclerosis. Oxidative damage also leads to unwanted inflammation, and it is this combination of unwanted inflammation and oxidative stress that puts our blood vessels at risk of unwanted plaque formation and clogging. Garlic unique set of sulfur-containing compounds helps protect us against both possibilities-oxidative stress and unwanted inflammation.
The following provides a list of sulfur-containing garlic's constituents that help lower our risk of oxidative stress:

• alliin
• allicin
• allixin
• allyl polysulfides (APS)*
• diallyl sulfide (DAS)
• diallyl disulfude (DADS)
• diallyl trisulfide (DATS)
• N-acetylcysteine (NAC)
• N-acetyl-S-allylcysteine (NASC)
• S-allylcysteine (SAC)
• S-allylmercaptocysteine (SAMC)
• S-ethylcysteine (SEC)
• S-methylcysteine (SMC)
• S-propylcysteine (SPC)
• 1,2-vinyldithiin (1,2-DT)
• thiacremonone

* "Allyl polysulfides" is a general term that refers to a variety of compounds.
On the anti-inflammatory side of the equation, garlic's 1,2-vinyldithiin (1,2-DT) and thiacremonone are the compounds that have been of special interest in recent research. Both compounds appear to work by inhibiting the activity of inflammatory messenger molecules. In the case of thiacremonone, it is the inflammatory transcription factor called NFkappaB that gets inhibited. In the case of 1,2-DT, the exact anti-inflammatory mechanisms are not yet clear, even though the release of inflammatory messaging molecules like interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) by macrophage cells has been shown to be reduced in white adipose tissue by 1,2-DT. The combination of anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress compounds in garlic makes it a unique food for cardiovascular support, especially in terms of chronic degenerative cardiovascular conditions like atherosclerosis.
In addition to the ability of garlic to help prevent our blood vessels from becoming blocked, this allium vegetable may also be able to help prevent clots from forming inside of our blood vessels. This cardiovascular protection has been linked to one particular disulfide in garlic called ajoene. Ajoene has repeatedly been shown to have anti-clotting properties. It can help prevent certain cells in our blood (called platelets) from becoming too sticky, and by keeping this stickiness in check, it lowers the risk of our platelets clumping together and forming a clot.
Equally impressive about garlic is its ability to lower blood pressure. Researchers have known for about 10 years that the allicin made from alliin in garlic blocks the activity of angiotensin II. A small piece of protein (peptide), angiotensin II helps our blood vessels contract. (When they contract, our blood is forced to pass through a smaller space, and the pressure is increased.) By blocking the activity of angiotensin II, allicin form garlic is able to help prevent unwanted contraction of our blood vessels and unwanted increases in blood pressure.
More recently, however, researchers have found that garlic supports our blood pressure in a second and totally different way. Garlic is rich in sulfur-containing molecules called polysulfides. It turns out that these polysulfides, once inside our red blood cells (RBCs), can be further converted by our RBCs into a gas called hydrogen sulfide (H2S). H2S helps control our blood pressure by triggering dilation of our blood vessels. When the space inside our blood vessels expands, our blood pressure gets reduced. (H2S is described as a "gasotransmitter" and placed in the same category as nitric oxide (NO) as a messaging molecule that can help expand and relax our blood vessel walls.) Interestingly, our RBCs do not appear to use processed garlic extracts in the same way that they use polysulfides in food-form garlic.
Garlic's numerous beneficial cardiovascular effects are due to not only its sulfur compounds, but also to its vitamin C, vitamin B6, selenium and manganese. Garlic is a very good source of vitamin C, the body's primary antioxidant defender in all aqueous (water-soluble) areas, such as the bloodstream, where it protects LDL cholesterol from oxidation. Since it is the oxidized form of LDL cholesterol that initiates damage to blood vessel walls, reducing levels of oxidizing free radicals in the bloodstream can have a profound effect on preventing cardiovascular disease.
Garlic's vitamin B6 helps prevent heart disease via another mechanism: lowering levels of homocysteine. An intermediate product of an important cellular biochemical process called the methylation cycle, homocysteine can directly damage blood vessel walls.
The selenium in garlic can become an important part of our body's antioxidant system. A cofactor of glutathione peroxidase (one of the body's most important internally produced antioxidant enzymes), selenium also works with vitamin E in a number of vital antioxidant systems.
Garlic is rich not only in selenium, but also in another trace mineral, manganese, which also functions as a cofactor in a number of other important antioxidant defense enzymes, for example, superoxide dismutase. Studies have found that in adults deficient in manganese, the level of HDL (the "good form" of cholesterol) is decreased.

Health Benefits and Uses

Anti-Inflammatory Benefits Across Body Systems

Our cardiovascular system is not the only body system that may be able to benefit from garlic's anti-inflammatory properties. There's preliminary evidence (mostly from animal studies, and mostly based on garlic extracts rather than whole food garlic) that our our musculoskeletal system and respiratory system can also benefit from anti-inflammatory compounds in garlic. Both the diallyl sulfide (DAS) and thiacremonone in garlic have been shown to have anti-arthritic properties. And in the case of allergic airway inflammation, aged garlic extract has been show to improve inflammatory conditions (once again in animal studies).
Even more preliminary is research evidence showing that some inflammatory aspects of obesity may be altered by sulfur-containing compounds in garlic. Specifically, there is one stage in development of the body's fat cells (adipocytes) that appears to be closely related to status of our inflammatory system. Fat cells cannot become fully themselves unless they are able to progress from a preliminary stage called "preadipocytes" to a final stage called "adipocytes." One of the sulfur compounds in garlic (1,2,-vinyldithiin, or 1,2-DT) appears able to lessen this conversion of preadipocytes into adipocytes, and the impact of 1,2-DT appears to be inflammation-related. Even though very preliminary, this research on 1,2-DT is exciting because obesity is increasingly being understood as a disease characterized by chronic, low level inflammation and our inflammatory status is precisely where garlic's 1,2-DT has its apparent impact.

Health Benefits and Uses

Antibacterial and Antiviral Benefits

From a medical history standpoint, the antibacterial and antiviral properties of garlic are perhaps its most legendary feature. This allium vegetable and its constituents have been studied not only for their benefits in controlling infection by bacteria and viruses, but also infection from other microbes including yeasts/fungi and worms. (One particular disulfide in garlic, called ajoene, has been successfully used to help prevent infections with the yeast Candida albicans.) Very recent research has shown the ability of crushed fresh garlic to help prevent infection by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa in burn patients. Also of special interest has been the ability of garlic to help in the treatment of bacterial infections that are difficult to treat due to the presence of bacteria that have become resistant to prescription antibiotics. However, most of the research on garlic as an antibiotic has involved fresh garlic extracts or powdered garlic products rather than fresh garlic in whole food form.
Overgrowth of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori in the stomach-a key risk factor for stomach ulcer-has been another key area of interest for researchers wanting to explore garlic's antibacterial benefits. Results in this area, however, have been mixed and inconclusive. While garlic may not be able to alter the course of infection itself, there may still be health benefits from garlic in helping to regulate the body's response to that infection.

Cancer Prevention

While not as strong as the research evidence for cruciferous vegetables, research on the allium vegetables-including garlic-shows that these vegetables have important anti-cancer properties. Interestingly, high intake of garlic (roughly translated as daily intake of this food) has been found to lower risk of virtually all cancer types except cancer of the prostate and breast cancer. However, moderate intake of garlic (roughly translated as several times per week) has been repeatedly found to lower risk of only two cancer types-colorectal and renal cancer. This difference between "high" versus "moderate" garlic intake may be a real difference that suggests we all need to eat more garlic if we want to maximize its cancer-related benefits. Or it may be a difference that is more related to research complications involving the options given to research participants when reporting their food intake. Still, garlic has a consistent track record with respect to general anti-cancer benefits, and there are good research reasons for classifying garlic as an "anti-cancer" food.
The allyl sulfides found in garlic may play a key role in its cancer-prevention benefits. These garlic compounds are able to activate a molecule called nuclear erythroid factor (Nrf2) in the main compartment of cells. The Nrf2 molecule then moves from the main compartment of the cell into the cell nucleus, where it triggers a wide variety of metabolic activities. Under some circumstances, this set of events can prepare a cell for engagement in a strong survival response, and in particular, the kind of response that is needed under conditions of oxidative stress. Under other circumstances, this same set of events can prepare the cell to engage in programmed cell death (apoptosis). When a cell recognizes that it has become too compromised to continue functioning in a healthy manner with other cells, it stops proceeding through its own life cycle and essentially starts to dismantle itself and recycle its parts. It's critical for a cell to determine whether it should continue on or shut itself down, because cells that continue on without the ability to properly function or communicate effectively with other cells are at risk of becoming cancerous. The ability of garlic's allyl sulfides to activate Nrf2 suggests that garlic may be able to help modify these all-critical cell responses and prevent potentially cancerous cells from forming.
One especially interesting area of research on garlic and cancer prevention involves meat cooked at high temperatures. Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are cancer-related substances that can form when meat comes into contact with a high-temperature cooking surface (400˚F/204˚C or higher). One such HCA is called PhIP (which stands for 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazopyridine). PhIP is thought to be one reason for the increased incidence of breast cancer among women who eat large quantities of meat because it is rapidly transformed into DNA-damaging compounds.
Diallyl sulfide (DAS), one of the many sulfur-containing compounds in garlic, has been shown to inhibit the transformation of PhIP into carcinogens. DAS blocks this transformation by decreasing the production of the liver enzymes (the Phase I enzymes CYP1A1, CYP1A2 and CYP1B1) that transform PhIP into activated DNA-damaging compounds. Of course, your best way to prevent formation of PhIP is not to bring your meat into contact with a 400˚F/204˚C cooking surface in the first place. But this area of research still bolsters our view of garlic as an allium vegetable with important cancer-preventive properties.

Garlic and Iron Metabolism

Recent research has shown that garlic may be able to improve our metabolism of iron. When iron is stored up in our cells, one of the key passageways for it to be moved out of the cell and returned into circulation involves a protein called ferroportin. Ferroportin is protein that runs across the cell membrane, and it provides a bridge for iron to cross over and leave the cell. Garlic may be able to increase our body's production of ferroportin, and in this way, help keep iron in circulation as it is needed.

Description

For a small vegetable, garlic (Allium sativum) sure has a big, and well deserved, reputation. And although garlic may not always bring good luck, protect against evil, or ward off vampires, characteristics to which it has been assigned folklorically, it is guaranteed to transform any meal into a bold, aromatic, and healthy culinary experience. Garlic is a member of the Lily family and is a cousin to onions, leeks and chives.
Garlic is arranged in a head, called a "bulb," which averages about 2 inches in height and diameter and consists of numerous small separate cloves. Both the cloves and the entire bulb are encased in paper-like sheathes that can be white, off-white, or have a pink/purple hue. Although garlic cloves have a firm texture, they can be easily cut or crushed. The taste of garlic is like no other-it hits the palate with a hot pungency that is shadowed by a very subtle background sweetness. While elephant garlic has larger cloves, it is more closely related to the leek and therefore does not offer the full health benefits of regular garlic.
Fresh, dried and powdered garlic are available in markets throughout the year, however, fresh varieties from California are in season from June through December.

History

Native to central Asia, garlic is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world and has been grown for over 5000 years. Ancient Egyptians seem to have been the first to cultivate this plant that played an important role in their culture.
Garlic was not only bestowed with sacred qualities and placed in the tomb of Pharaohs, but it was given to the slaves that built the Pyramids to enhance their endurance and strength. This strength-enhancing quality was also honored by the ancient Greeks and Romans, civilizations whose athletes ate garlic before sporting events and whose soldiers consumed it before going off to war.
Garlic was introduced into various regions throughout the globe by migrating cultural tribes and explorers. By the 6th century BC, garlic was known in both China and India, the latter country using it for therapeutic purposes.
Throughout the millennia, garlic has been a beloved plant in many cultures for both its culinary and medicinal properties. Over the last few years, it has gained unprecedented popularity since researchers have been scientifically validating its numerous health benefits.
Currently, China, South Korea, India, Spain and the United States are among the top commercial producers of garlic.               Garlic Cloves.

Garlic-In-Oil

The Issue

Garlic-in-oil is a popular homemade food item that can cause serious health problems if it is not stored properly. If you make and use this item at home, you can take steps to protect your family from the possibility of food poisoning.

Background

Garlic-in-oil is a mixture of oil and garlic, either whole, chopped or minced. When you make it at home and use it right away, it is a safe product. It is also safe if you keep it refrigerated on a continuous basis, and use it within a week.
The trouble starts if you store homemade garlic-in-oil at room temperature, or if you keep it in the fridge for too long. These actions could allow growth of the spores that cause botulism, resulting in the production of toxin in the food.

The Link Between Homemade Garlic-in-Oil and Botulism

The bacteria spores that cause botulism – Clostridium botulinum – are widespread in nature, but they seldom cause problems, because they are not able to grow if they are exposed to oxygen. If the spores do not grow, then they cannot produce the toxins that cause illness.
However, when garlic containing the bacteria is covered with oil, there is no oxygen present. This means that conditions are ripe for the spores to grow and produce toxins. You can slow down the growth of bacteria (and the production of toxins) by refrigerating the product, but this may not be enough to stop it from spoiling.
What is worse is that there will not be any obvious signs that the garlic-in-oil is spoiled. You will not be able to tell if it is dangerous, because it will still look, smell, and taste the same.
If you eat garlic-in-oil that contains the toxins, you can get botulism, a potentially fatal food poisoning that could cause the following symptoms:

• Dizziness;
• Blurred or double vision;
• Difficulty in swallowing, breathing and speaking;
• Paralysis that gets worse with time.

Commercially Prepared Garlic-in-Oil

Commercially produced garlic-in-oil products have been linked to two outbreaks of botulism: one in Vancouver in 1985, and the other in New York in 1989.
In both outbreaks, people became seriously ill after eating something made with non-preserved garlic-in-oil that had not been stored at the proper temperature. Since then, the commercial manufacturers of garlic-in-oil have adopted better preservation techniques to keep their products free of the toxins that cause botulism.
Check the label on commercially prepared garlic-in-oil products for sale. If salt or acids are in the list of ingredients, then the product has been preserved and you do not need to worry about food poisoning, as long as you follow directions for storing the product.

Minimizing Your Risk

You can protect your family's health and reduce the chance of food poisoning by following these rules:

• Prepare garlic-in-oil fresh, and use it immediately.
• It is best to throw away any leftover home-made garlic-in-oil. If you decide to store it, make sure it goes into the refrigerator right away, and use it within a week.
• Never store garlic-in-oil at room temperature.

Garlic Oil Shows Protective Effect Against Heart Disease in Diabetes

The scientists fed either garlic oil or corn oil to laboratory rats with diabetes. Animals given garlic oil experienced beneficial changes associated with protection against heart damage. The changes appeared to be associated with the potent antioxidant properties of garlic oil, the scientists say, adding that they identified more than 20 substances in garlic oil that may contribute to the effect.
"In conclusion, garlic oil possesses significant potential for protecting hearts from diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy," the report notes.

Problems in heart function related to diabetes may be improved by supplementation with garlic oil, according to new research with rats.

The study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, suggests that cardiac abnormalities induced by diabetes can be reversed in as little sixteen days of garlic oil supplementation.
“Our results show that garlic oil supplementation for diabetic rats leads to several alterations at multiple levels in hearts including cardiac contractile functions and structures, myosin chain gene expressions, oxidative stress, and apoptosis and related signaling activities,” wrote the researchers, led by Wei-Wen Kuo from the China Medical University in Taiwan.

Garlic Powder

Garlic powder isn't a true substitute for fresh garlic - nothing could be - but it does have its advantages. It usually lasts for a long while and a little goes a long way when cooking, so some people buy it as an alternative to minced garlic for keeping in the kitchen store cupboard.

What Is Garlic Powder?

In theory garlic powder is very simple: it's just dehydrated garlic cloves that have been ground to a powder. Some of the high quality brands you can buy are just that, pure garlic. Not all of the brands on the market are pure garlic. Sometimes artificial ingredients are added to "improve" the colour or flavour. As always, it's worth checking the ingredients before you buy.
Sometimes garlic powder is included in other dried spice blends in the stores. The most common of these is garlic salt which is usually just salt plus powdered garlic. Obviously if you're using the powder as an alternative food seasoning in order to cut down on your salt intake, there isn't much point using garlic salt!
As with most things, if you have time then probably the finest quality garlic powder comes from making it yourself in your own kitchen.

Powder vs Fresh

The instructions on packets of garlic powder often talk about using it in place of fresh garlic when cooking. Personally I don't do that. Even when it's pure, I find that the powder doesn't taste exactly the same as fresh garlic. Good garlic powder can be very pleasant - but to me it is a taste of its own. For this reason I prefer to use it as a seasoning ingredient in place of salt or in slow marinades. There's no reason not to have both fresh and powdered garlic in the kitchen at the same time.

Garlic Powder : Since it contains only a trace amount of natural sodium, you can use garlic powder liberally without being concerned about adding extra salt to your diet. Since it does contain table salt, it’s not exactly low sodium in content, and this should be weighed carefully. Should you want garlic taste without the extra salt, look for garlic powder instead, which is made of dried, finely ground garlic, or you can use spray bottles of garlic juice.

Granulated Garlic Powder :

• Here are some things you should know about garlic granules, and how to adapt recipes for the use of granulated garlic rather than using garlic salt or powder. Garlic granules, like their powdered cousin, are made of dried garlic that has been processed into a handy packaged kitchen spice.
• Whole dried chiles can also be ground up and combined with other spices to make pasilla chile powder. The chile powder is typically mixed with cumin, dried oregano, and granulated garlic. The whole chiles are usually not grown or readily exported to other regions outside of Mexico, but the powdered version is often more easily accessible to people who are not near Mexico. 

Dehydrated Garlic Powder :

• The minced garlic is then placed onto trays and run through a process to extract the liquid content from the small pieces. Once the drying process is complete, the dehydrated garlic is spun through mesh that helps to create the size of flaked garlic that is desired.
• Whole dried chiles can also be ground up and combined with other spices to make pasilla chile powder. The chile powder is typically mixed with cumin, dried oregano, and granulated garlic. The whole chiles are usually not grown or readily exported to other regions outside of Mexico, but the powdered version is often more easily accessible to people who are not near Mexico. 

Garlic Clove Powder :

• Don’t neglect the crust of the bread because you’ll produce even more garlicky flavor if you rub the garlic onto the crust. You can also garlic juice in spray form instead of a garlic clove. Of course, nothing really compares with the rich and buttery taste of true garlic toast.
• When it comes to keeping garlic around the house, garlic flakes are a great way to add this tasty herb to recipes, without having to go through the process of cleaning and mincing garlic cloves or bulbs. Garlic flakes are simply dehydrated bits of garlic that can be stored for long periods of time and used in all sorts of foods. 

Organic Garlic Powder on wiseGEEK:

• Since it does contain table salt, it’s not exactly low sodium in content, and this should be weighed carefully. Should you want garlic taste without the extra salt, look for garlic powder instead, which is made of dried, finely ground garlic, or you can use spray bottles of garlic juice.
• If it is planted in between rows of vegetables, fruit trees, or flowers, it may repel insects, such as aphids and borers. In addition, garlic powder can be combined with water and lightly sprayed on plants. Not only is it known to repel insects, but the garlic spray also helps keep rabbits away from certain plants, and if it is sprayed in a decorative pond, it can kill the mosquitoes. 

Dried Garlic Powder :

• Garlic powder is dried garlic that has been finely diced to create a powdered form. It should not be confused with garlic salt, which is a combination of garlic powder and table salt.
• Should you want garlic taste without the extra salt, look for garlic powder instead, which is made of dried, finely ground garlic, or you can use spray bottles of garlic juice.

Garlic Powder Dogs on wiseGEEK:

• Also avoid giving bits of cookie or other foods that contain raisins. Garlic, Onions, and Powders: Whether fresh, cooked or powdered, garlic and/or onions can be found among the ingredients of many prepared meals, including baby food.
• For cats, one can also use a variety of flea treatments in the form of powders or sprays, which are also available for dogs, meant to kill fleas on contact. While these flea treatments can be effective, they have the disadvantage of being potentially dangerous to people, especially children.

Welcome to a whole new world of flavor. Black Garlic.

Introducing a simple food with a wonderfully complex flavor. Black garlic is sweet meets savory, a perfect mix of molasses-like richness and tangy garlic undertones. It has a tender, almost jelly-like texture with a melt-in-your-mouth consistency similar to a soft dried fruit. Hard to believe, but true. It’s as delicious as it is unique.

vs. Raw Garlic

Imagine garlic without all of the annoying stuff. Bad breath? Nope. Pungent odor? Nope. Acrid bite? No sir. You know how a great wine gets better with age? That’s what we’re dealing with here.

It’s Healthy

In Taoism mythology, black garlic was rumored to grant immortality. We can’t promise you that, but there’s no doubt that black garlic is great for your health—it’s loaded with nearly twice as many antioxidants as raw garlic. It also contains S-Allycysteine, which is fancy talk for a natural compound that has been proven to be a factor in cancer prevention.

How it’s made

How does garlic become black? They are usually surprised to hear that the unique color, taste, and texture of our product are accomplished without any additives! Black garlic is produced by fermentation, a technique that has been around for many thousands of years.

Garlic contains sugars and amino acids. When garlic undergoes fermentation, these elements produce melanoidin, a dark-colored substance that is responsible for the color of black garlic.
The real magic happens during our carefully controlled process, developed over many years to optimize the flavor and texture of fermented garlic. This process starts with great garlic, and ends with great black garlic.

Black Garlic, Inc. uses the finest garlic. Our direct relationship with farmers enables us to select the raw garlic that will produce the best black garlic.
Most of the magic happens behind the closed doors of our patented machine. An experienced technician monitors heat and humidity for three weeks, regularly sampling the garlic for quality and consistency.
Black garlic is placed on special racks to cool and dry over the course of one week. Again, an expert samples the product as it dries for quality assurance.
Even after cooling, not every bulb of black garlic meets our high standards. We sort and package every batch by hand to ensure that only the best of the best make it to you.

How to Make Black Garlic

Black Garlic is Better?

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Black garlic is a new product produced by the fermentation of garlic. It is a sticky, slightly sweet, and is finding its way into high end restaurants and TV cooking shows. Black garlic also boasts additional antioxidants when compared to regular garlic. This article will get you going on how to make your very own black garlic by simply fermenting garlic in a warm oven.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• garlic bulbs
• glass pot with cover
• oven
• oven thermometer

1. 1
   Set the oven to 150 degrees Fahrenheit (140-155F, 60-70C).
   
   It is important that the oven be dedicated to the project for a period of 40 days, so consider that before starting the project. Make sure the oven can be set to a warm setting of 150 F or find a DC or AC heating blanket that meets this temperature and wrap your pot in it. If attempted commercially, the ideal oven is a laboratory incubator.
   
2. 2
   Place the entire garlic bulb inside a clean glass container and place the glass lid on top.
   The humidity must remain high during the 40 day period. This is easily done by filling the entire container with garlic and keeping it covered for the duration of the fermentation. Do not pile the garlic on top of one another. Simply spread them out with enough room for air to pass between each bulb within the glass container. Try to avoid earthen ware or plastic pots because they may impart unpleasant tastes and chemicals to the garlic.
   
3. 3
   Use the oven thermometer to check the temperature (stay between 140-155F).
   
4. 4
   Place the glass container in the oven and allow the garlic ferment for 40 days and 40 nights.
   
   Try not to disturb the garlic during the fermentation, but also do not forget that you are making black garlic. It is best to circle the day on a calendar or set up a reminder on your computer or PDA for black garlic day!
   
5. 5
   Enjoy the wonderful and tasty treat of home brew black garlic!
   
   Black garlic is an unusual delight to eat as a side or incorporate into a meal. Recipes using black garlic can now be found on line, so once you have the magic ingredient, don't be afraid to experiment with black garlic in any dish that calls for plain garlic.
   

How to Select and Store  

For maximum flavor and nutritional benefits, always purchase fresh garlic. Although garlic in flake, powder, or paste form may be more convenient, you will derive less culinary and health benefits from these forms.
Purchase garlic that is plump and has unbroken skin. Gently squeeze the garlic bulb between your fingers to check that it feels firm and is not damp.
Avoid garlic that is soft, shriveled, and moldy or that has begun to sprout. These may be indications of decay that will cause inferior flavor and texture. Size is often not an indication of quality. If your recipe calls for a large amount of garlic, remember that it is always easier to peel and chop a few larger cloves than many smaller ones. Fresh garlic is available in the market throughout the year.
Store fresh garlic in either an uncovered or a loosely covered container in a cool, dark place away from exposure to heat and sunlight. This will help maintain its maximum freshness and help prevent sprouting, which reduces its flavor and causes excess waste. It is not necessary to refrigerate garlic. Some people freeze peeled garlic; however, this process reduces its flavor profile and changes its texture.
Depending upon its age and variety, whole garlic bulbs will keep fresh for about a month if stored properly. Inspect the bulb frequently and remove any cloves that appear to be dried out or moldy. Once you break the head of garlic, it greatly reduces its shelf life to just a few days.

How to Enjoy

Tips for Preparing Garlic

The first step to using garlic is to separate the individual cloves. An easy way to do this is to place the bulb on a cutting board or hard surface and gently, but firmly, apply pressure with the palm of your hand at an angle. This will cause the layers of skin that hold the bulb together to separate.
Peel garlic with a knife or alternatively, separate the skin from the individual cloves by placing a clove with the smooth side down on a cutting board and gently tapping it with the flat side of a wide knife. You can then remove the skin either with your fingers or with a small knife. If there is a green sprout in the clove's center, gently remove it since it is difficult to digest.

Enhancing the Health-Promoting Properties of Garlic

Chopping or crushing stimulates the enzymatic process that converts the phytonutrient alliin into allicin, a compound to which many of garlic's health benefits are attributed. In order to allow for maximal allicin production, wait at least 5 minutes before eating or cooking the garlic. Also observe this 5-minute "time out" period before adding any high acidic ingredient to the garlic (for example, lemon juice). Ingredients with a pH below 3.5 can also deactivate the enzymatic process.
Since crushing and chopping are the food preparation steps that activate garlic's enzymes, these steps can help you obtain many of garlic's special benefits. For example, research has shown that microwaving or boiling garlic in uncrushed, whole clove form will deactivate its enzymes, preventing these enzymes from working. For this reason, we recommend that you chop or crush the garlic cloves prior to heating. According to research on garlic preparation methods, it only takes 60 seconds of microwaving whole cloves to lessen some of garlic's health benefits. By contrast, many of garlic's health benefits (including its anti-cancer properties) are preserved if the whole cloves are crushed and allowed to sit for 10 minutes prior to cooking.

Garlic Bread

Garlic bread typically consists of bread topped with garlic and olive oil or butter. It is then either grilled or broiled until toasted or baked in an oven. A variation of garlic bread is prepared and consumed in Romania, with the difference that the freshly toasted bread is rubbed with garlic and then topped with cold-pressed sunflower oil and salt.
It is often made using a bread such as a baguette or Italian bread: Bread is sliced towards the bottom, but kept in one piece. The bread is then brushed with olive oil. After, minced garlic or garlic powder is spread between the slices. The bread is then baked in an oven. Alternatively, the bread can be cut into individual slices and covered with the oil or butter individually.

Garlic Bread Recipe  1

Ingredients

1 16-ounce loaf of Italian bread or French bread
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
1 heaping tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Method

Method 1 - Toasted
1 Preheat oven to 350°F.

2 Cut the bread in half, horizontally. Mix the butter, garlic, and parsley together in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture over the the two bread halves. Place on a sturdy baking pan (one that can handle high temperatures, not a cookie sheet) and heat in the oven for 10 minutes.
3 Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over bread if you want. Return to oven on the highest rack. Broil on high heat for 2-3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese (if you are using cheese) bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling. The bread can easily go from un-toasted to burnt.
4 Remove from oven, let cool a minute. Remove from pan and make 1-inch thick slices. Serve immediately.
Method 2 - Soft

Preheat oven to 350°F. Make the butter, garlic, parsley mixture as above. Make 1-inch thick slices into the bread, but do not go all the way through, just to the bottom crust. Put a teaspoon or two of the butter mixture between each slice. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and heat for 15 minutes in the oven.

 Garlic Bread Recipe 2

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 loaf crusty bread, split
• 3 tablespoons grated cheese, Parmigiano or Romano, optional
• Chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Combine garlic, butter, and oil in a microwave safe dish or in a small saucepan. Heat garlic and butter and oil in microwave for 1 minute or in a small pot over moderate-low heat for 3 minutes.
Toast split bread under broiler. Remove bread when it is toasted golden brown in color. Brush bread liberally with garlic oil. Sprinkle with cheese, if using, and parsley. If you added cheese, return to broiler and brown 30 seconds. Cut into chunks and serve.

Roasted Garlic - Oven-Roasted Garlic - Roasting Garlic
How To Roast Garlic - Roasted Garlic Recipe

 

Roasted garlic makes a delicious appetizer. Squeeze the pulp out of the cloves and spread on the bread of your liking or serve with bruschetta and/or tapenade. Roasted garlic is also excellent used in your baking. It is milder than raw garlic. In fact, raw garlic is two to four times stronger in flavor. Garlic becomes very mellow and easy to spread after cooking.

How To Roast Garlic - Roasted Garlic Recipe

3 whole rligac heads (bulbs)
2 to 3 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
 
NOTE: You can multiply the recipe to make as much roasted garlic as you need. Each head will yield about one (1) heaping tablespoon of garlic puree.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

 Peel away the outer layers of skin of the garlic bulb, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact; leave garlic bulb whole. Using a sharp knife, slice 1/2-inch off of the pointed end of the garlic bulbs, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.

Put the garlic head in a small ovenproof dish, garlic cooker, or pan. Pour 1/2 teaspoon olive oil over the top of each bulb and let it sink in between the cloves. Wait 2 minutes and then repeat with another 1/2 teaspoon olive oil over each garlic bulb.

 Either cook in a garlic cooker or place on a baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil (this is great for cooking large amounts of garlic). Cover and bake approximately 45 to 60 minutes or until cloves are browned at the exposed end and soft throughout. Remove from oven.

Allow the roasted garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins. Garlic may be stored in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for several days. To puree, crush garlic cloves with the flat of a knife.
A great way to serve roasted garlic cloves is as an accompaniment to bread. To serve, spread baguette bread with cream cheese, squeeze clove onto the bread, and spread.
Serves many. 

Roasting Garlic for Cooking Purposes:

There is more than one way to roast garlic. The following is a easy way to do the roasting when preparing the garlic for your many recipes:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
 

Separate a head of garlic into individual cloves. don't peel the cloves, but do rub of any flaky or papery skin. Use a paring knife to cut off the stem end of each clove. You basically want the peel to stay one, but it is fine if a little does come off.
 

Put the cloves in the center of a square piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with a little olive oil, and using your fingers to rub the oil evenly on the cloves. Gather the aluminum foil into a pouch and set it directly on the rack of your oven. Roast until the garlic becomes very soft, approximately 1 hour. NOTE: You can roast two heads of garlic in one pouch, but for more than that, make another pouch.
 

When done baking, open the pouch and let the cloves sit until they are cool enough to handle. When cool, squeeze each clove gently at the untrimmed end and the roasted flesh should slide right out in one piece.

 

Roasted Garlic Recipe

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2 Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.

 
3 Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.

4 Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
Eat as is (I love straight roasted garlic) or mash with a fork and use for cooking. Can be spread over warm French bread, mixed with sour cream for a topping for baked potatoes, or mixed in with Parmesan and pasta.

About Garlic Clove

Garlic is from the onion family and closely related to onions, chives, and shallots. It has a strong odor and can be eaten both raw and cooked. Typically spicy when raw, it becomes more mild and sweet when cooked, though overcooking can make it bitter.
Garlic is frequently associated with Italian and Chinese cuisines, but is used widely throughout the world.

Garlic, smashed with the side of a knife, emits more of its oils than if you chop it or place it whole in a recipe.

Large garlic bulbs are "milder" than smaller ones.

You can grow it easily in your garden. It does replicate itself.

Elephant garlic is much larger and milder, lacking the pungency of ordinary garlic. It should not be used as a direct substitute if the same results are desired.
Garlic has a number of healthful benefits.

  Physical Description

The garlic plant's bulb is the most commonly used part of the plant. With the exception of the single clove types, the bulb is divided into numerous fleshy sections called cloves.

The Healthiest Way of Cooking Garlic

We recommend using raw garlic in many of our recipes. If it is a cooked dish you are preparing and you cannot tolerate raw garlic, add chopped garlic towards the end of the cooking time to retain maximum flavor and nutrition. Too much heat for too long will reduce the activity of the health-promoting sulfur compounds that have formed by letting it sit for 5-10 minutes; it will also make garlic bitter. Therefore expose garlic to heat for as little time as possible (5-15 minutes).
If you would like to combine garlic with oil, we recommend that you avoid high-temperature heating of this oil-garlic mixture. Keeping the heat at 250˚F/121˚C or lower will help preserve the health benefits of both the garlic and the oil. This same principle applies to the oven roasting of garlic bulbs themselves. We do not recommend the 350˚F/177˚C temperature range that you will find in many recipes and on many websites. Once again, a lower temperature is needed to help preserve health-protective compounds in garlic.

Selecting and Buying

How to Choose:

When buying fresh, purchase firm, plump bulbs with ry skins. Avoid heads with soft or shrivelled cloves, and those stored in the refrigerated section of the produce department.

Where to Buy:

Fresh garlic is available year round, canned, dried, and powdered, available in any grocery store.

Growing, Hunting, and Foraging:

Garlic is grown globally, but China is by far the largest producer of garlic.

Conserving and Storing

Garlic is stored warm and dry to keep it dormant. It is traditionally hung. Garlic is often kept in oil to produce flavored ol however this practice requires measures to be taken to prevent the garlic from spoiling.
Refrigeration does not assure the safety of garlic kept in oil. Peeled cloves may be stored in wine or vinegar in the refrigerator.
A popular method for storing in modern day society involves chopped garlic stored in oil. Though the resulting garlic flavor is slightly altered, this serves as a convenient way to always have garlic on hand and ready to use. This involves the removing of the skin of several heads of garlic, chopping the cloves and then the soaking the garlic in a vegetable oil in an airtight glass jar. This keeps for several weeks in the refrigerator.
Store fresh garlic in an open container, away from other foods and in a cool, dark place. Properly stored, unbroken bulbs can be kept up to 8 weeks, though they will begin to dry out toward the end of that time.
Once broken from the bulb, individual cloves will keep from 8-10 days.

Preparation and Use

Garlic has been used throughout history for both culinary and medicinal purposes.
Use chopped or pureed garlic to season anything from salads to soups, from sides to main courses.
Used to flavor everything from vegetables, to poultry, beef, lamb, and seafood, as well as dressings, sauces, casseroles, and soups.

Cleaning:

Break garlic segments away from bulb. Place clove under the side of a large knife and pound once or twice to remove skin. In recipes that call for whole garlic cloves, simply break clovers from bulb, peel, and add to dish.

 Recipes That Feature Garlic

We actually include garlic as an ingredient in so many of our recipes.

A Few Quick Serving Ideas

• Purée fresh garlic, canned garbanzo beans, tahini, olive oil and lemon juice to make quick and easy hummus dip.
• Healthy Sauté steamed spinach, garlic, and fresh lemon juice.
• Add garlic to sauces and soups.
• Purée roasted garlic, cooked potatoes and olive oil together to make delicious garlic mashed potatoes. Season to taste.

Individual Concerns

Garlic is not a commonly allergenic food, is not known to contain measurable amounts of oxalates or purines and is also not included in the Environmental Working Group's 2010 report "Shopper's Guide to Pesticides" as one of the 12 foods most frequently containing pesticide residues.
Do not store garlic in oil at room temperature. Garlic-in-oil mixtures stored at room temperature provide perfect conditions for producing botulism, regardless of whether the garlic is fresh or has been roasted.

Nutritional Profile

The sulfur compounds in garlic are perhaps its most unique nutrients. There are literally dozens of well-studied sulfur molecules in garlic, and virtually all of them have been shown to function as antioxidants. In addition, many provide us with anti-inflammatory benefits. The very presence of sulfur in some many different garlic compounds may also play an important role in our nourishment.
Additionally, garlic is an excellent source of manganese. It is also a very good source of vitamin B6 and vitamin C. In addition, garlic is a good source of protein and thiamin (vitamin B1) as well as the minerals phosphorus, selenium, calcium, potassium, and copper.

In-Depth Nutritional Profile

In addition to the nutrients highlighted in our ratings chart, an in-depth nutritional profile for Garlic is also available. This profile includes information on a full array of nutrients, including carbohydrates, sugar, soluble and insoluble fiber, sodium, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids and more.

Introduction to Food Rating System Chart

In order to better help you identify foods that feature a high concentration of nutrients for the calories they contain, we created a Food Rating System. This system allows us to highlight the foods that are especially rich in particular nutrients. The following chart shows the nutrients for which this food is either an excellent, very good, or good source (below the chart you will find a table that explains these qualifications). If a nutrient is not listed in the chart, it does not necessarily mean that the food doesn't contain it. It simply means that the nutrient is not provided in a sufficient amount or concentration to meet our rating criteria. (To view this food's in-depth nutritional profile that includes values for dozens of nutrients - not just the ones rated as excellent, very good, or good - please use the link below the chart.) To read this chart accurately, you'll need to glance up in the top left corner where you will find the name of the food and the serving size we used to calculate the food's nutrient composition. This serving size will tell you how much of the food you need to eat to obtain the amount of nutrients found in the chart. Now, returning to the chart itself, you can look next to the nutrient name in order to find the nutrient amount it offers, the percent Daily Value (DV%) that this amount represents, the nutrient density that we calculated for this food and nutrient, and the rating we established in our rating system. For most of our nutrient ratings, we adopted the government standards for food labeling that are found in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "Reference Values for Nutrition Labeling."

Garlic 1.00 oz-wt 28.35 grams 42.24 calories Nutrient Amount DV (%) Nutrient Density World's Healthiest Foods Rating manganese 0.47 mg 23.5 10.0 excellent vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) 0.35 mg 17.5 7.5 very good vitamin C 8.85 mg 14.8 6.3 very good tryptophan 0.02 g 6.3 2.7 good selenium 4.03 mcg 5.8 2.5 good calcium 51.31 mg 5.1 2.2 good phosphorus 43.38 mg 4.3 1.8 good vitamin B1 (thiamin) 0.06 mg 4.0 1.7 good copper 0.08 mg 4.0 1.7 good protein 1.80 g 3.6 1.5 good World's Healthiest Foods Rating Rule excellent DV>=75% OR Density>=7.6 AND DV>=10% very good DV>=50% OR Density>=3.4 AND DV>=5% good DV>=25% OR Density>=1.5 AND DV>=2.5%

In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Garlic

In-depth nutrient analysis:

Garlic (Note: "--" indicates data is unavailable)
amount	1.00 oz-wt
total weight	28.35 g
Basic Components
nutrient	amount	%DV
calories	42.24	2.35
calories from fat	1.28
calories from saturated fat	0.23
protein	1.80 g	3.60
carbohydrates	9.38 g	3.13
dietary fiber	0.60 g	2.40
soluble fiber	-- g
insoluble fiber	-- g
sugar - total	0.45 g
monosaccharides	0.00 g
disaccharides	-- g
other carbs	8.33 g
fat - total	0.14 g	0.22
saturated fat	0.03 g	0.15
mono fat	0.00 g	0.00
poly fat	0.07 g	0.29
trans fatty acids	0.00 g
cholesterol	0.00 mg	0.00
water	16.61 g
ash	0.43 g
Vitamins
nutrient	amount	%DV
vitamin A IU	0.00 IU	0.00
vitamin A RE	0.00 RE
A - carotenoid	0.00 RE	0.00
A - retinol	0.00 RE
A - beta carotene	0.00 mcg
thiamin - B1	0.06 mg	4.00
riboflavin - B2	0.03 mg	1.76
niacin - B3	0.20 mg	1.00
niacin equiv	0.51 mg
vitamin B6	0.35 mg	17.50
vitamin B12	0.00 mcg	0.00
biotin	-- mcg	--
vitamin C	8.85 mg	14.75
vitamin D IU	0.00 IU	0.00
vitamin D mcg	0.00 mcg
vitamin E alpha equiv	0.00 mg	0.00
vitamin E IU	0.00 IU
vitamin E mg	0.00 mg
folate	0.88 mcg	0.22
vitamin K	-- mcg	--
pantothenic acid	0.17 mg	1.70
Minerals
nutrient	amount	%DV
boron	-- mcg
calcium	51.31 mg	5.13
chloride	-- mg
chromium	-- mcg	--
copper	0.08 mg	4.00
fluoride	-- mg	--
iodine	-- mcg	--
iron	0.48 mg	2.67
magnesium	7.09 mg	1.77
manganese	0.47 mg	23.50
molybdenum	-- mcg	--
phosphorus	43.38 mg	4.34
potassium	113.68 mg	3.25
selenium	4.03 mcg	5.76
sodium	4.82 mg	0.20
zinc	0.33 mg	2.20
Saturated Fats
nutrient	amount	%DV
4:0 butyric	0.00 g
6:0 caproic	0.00 g
8:0 caprylic	0.00 g
10:0 capric	0.00 g
12:0 lauric	0.00 g
14:0 myristic	0.00 g
15:0 pentadecanoic	0.00 g
16:0 palmitic	0.02 g
17:0 margaric	0.00 g
18:0 stearic	0.00 g
20:0 arachidic	0.00 g
22:0 behenate	0.00 g
24:0 lignoceric	0.00 g
Mono Fats
nutrient	amount	%DV
14:1 myristol	0.00 g
15:1 pentadecenoic	0.00 g
16:1 palmitol	0.00 g
17:1 heptadecenoic	0.00 g
18:1 oleic	0.00 g
20:1 eicosen	0.00 g
22:1 erucic	0.00 g
24:1 nervonic	0.00 g
Poly Fats
nutrient	amount	%DV
18:2 linoleic	0.06 g
18:3 linolenic	0.01 g
18:4 stearidon	0.00 g
20:3 eicosatrienoic	0.00 g
20:4 arachidon	0.00 g
20:5 EPA	0.00 g
22:5 DPA	0.00 g
22:6 DHA	0.00 g
Other Fats
nutrient	amount	%DV
omega 3 fatty acids	0.01 g	0.42
omega 6 fatty acids	0.06 g
Amino Acids
nutrient	amount	%DV
alanine	0.04 g
arginine	0.18 g
aspartate	0.14 g
cystine	0.02 g	4.88
glutamate	0.23 g
glycine	0.06 g
histidine	0.03 g	2.33
isoleucine	0.06 g	5.22
leucine	0.09 g	3.56
lysine	0.08 g	3.40
methionine	0.02 g	2.70
phenylalanine	0.05 g	4.20
proline	0.03 g
serine	0.05 g
threonine	0.04 g	3.23
tryptophan	0.02 g	6.25
tyrosine	0.02 g	2.06
valine	0.08 g	5.44
Other
nutrient	amount	%DV
alcohol	0.00 g
caffeine	0.00 mg
artif sweetener total	-- mg
aspartame	-- mg
saccharin	-- mg
sugar alcohol	-- g
glycerol	-- g
inositol	-- g
mannitol	-- g
sorbitol	-- g
xylitol	-- g
organic acids	-- mg
acetic acid	-- mg
citric acid	-- mg
lactic acid	-- mg
malic acid	-- mg
choline	-- mg	--
taurine	-- mg
Note: The nutrient profiles provided in this website are derived from Food Processor for Windows, Version 7.60, by ESHA Research in Salem, Oregon, USA. Of the 21,629 food records contained in the ESHA foods database, most of them - including those of the World's Healthiest Foods - lacked information for specific nutrients. The designation "--" was chosen to represent those nutrients for which there was no measurement included in the ESHA foods database.

Growing Garlic in the Home Garden

Gardening

Many people grow garlic themselves - it's easy and fun, even if you're not usually much of a gardener. You also get to the reward of eating your home-grown garlic crop! Garlic is a member of the allium family which also includes leeks, shallots and onions. Individual cloves act as seeds. The bulbs grow underground and the leaves shoot in to the air. Although garlic is traditionally thought of as a Mediterranean ingredient garlic is also grown successfully in colder more Northern climates.

There are many different garlic varieties, a lot of which you can easily grow at home for a great crop.

How to Grow Garlic at Home

Garlic is grown from the individual cloves. Each clove will produce one plant with a single bulb - which may in turn contain up to twenty cloves. Growing garlic is therefore self-sustaining. When planting garlic, choose a garden site that gets plenty of sun and where the soil is not too damp. The cloves should be planted individually, upright and about an inch (25 mm) under the surface. Plant the cloves about 4 inches (100 mm) apart. Rows should be about 18 inches (450 mm) apart.
It is traditional to plant garlic on the shortest day of the year. Whether this is for symbolic or practical reasons is unclear.

Although garlic can protect other plants growing nearby against many ailments, there are some it is prone to.
Garlic is also prone to a few pests.

Harvesting Your Garlic Crop

As garlic reaches maturity, the leaves will brown then die away. This is the cue that it is time to harvest your garlic crop. If you harvest too early the cloves will be very small, too late and the bulb will have split. Proper handling of garlic after it's been picked is almost as important as looking after it whilst it's growing. It's essential that garlic is dried properly, otherwise it will rot. The bulbs are often hung up in a cool, dry place. After a week or so, take them down and brush the dirt off gently - don't wash the bulbs at this stage.
Then enjoy the delicious results of growing your own garlic in your own garden.

Choosing your garlic

There are two main kinds of garlic. (Actually, there are three. The third kind, 'elephant garlic', Allium ampeloprasum, has absolutely enormous cloves, but has no garlic flavor worth mentioning.) The first is  'Common garlic', which is the usual white skinned supermarket type plus the silverskin types generally used for braiding and available at farmers markets; and 'Hard neck garlic', which is much less common. Common garlic Allium sativum - Soft neck Garlic, Italian Garlic, Silverskin Garlic. There are two main 'types' of common garlic - the so-called 'artichoke' garlics we buy in the supermarket, and the 'silverskins', with either very white, or white blushed rose outer skins.  The bulbs of the common 'artichoke' types outer parchment is white, or off-white. There is usually a row of decent sized cloves around the outside, and irritatingly smaller, thinner cloves in the interior (altho' there are varieties with few, but quite large, cloves). As we all know, removing the skin from these cloves is not easy. The bulb is wrapped in many layers of parchment, which continues up to form a soft parchment like neck ideal for using to braid all your bulbs together on a string to hang in the kitchen! This garlic keeps well. Silverskins have the strongest flavor, and have numerous small cloves. They are very white, and the neck is sturdy and well suited to plaiting. The 'Creole' sub-group of the silverskin type is atypical, because they have only 8-12 cloves, are mild, and have a rose colored outer skin.
Hardneck Garlic Allium sativum var.ophioscorodon - Serpent Garlic, Stiffneck garlic, Rocombole Garlic, 10 clove garlic, Top Setting Garlic, Bavarian Garlic, Porcelain Garlic, Purple stripe garlic.
These garlics have a stiff, sometimes thick, neck, usually with fewer, even sized cloves arranged around the central 'neck'. Cloves number from four to twelve or so, depending on the variety. They are generally less reliable in changeable weather conditions than soft necked garlics, with the exception of the rocombole type.
The most distinctve of the three main hardneck types is 'Rocambole' Garlic. This garlic is similar to common garlic, but has two important differences. First, unlike common garlic, it throws up a flowering stem, called a 'scape'. Second, the bulb has relatively little outer parchment. This last difference has a positive and a negative side. On the negative side, the individual cloves are often exposed, can be knocked off the bulb by rough handling, and can wither a bit after long storage. In addition, the bulbs don't look anything like as attractive as bulbs of common garlic. On the positive side, they are a dream to remove the skin from -it is trivially easy- there is only one ring of decent sized cloves arranged around the woody central flower stalk and no smalls or thins, and it keeps almost as well as common garlic if stored carefully. The tall flowering scape , for reasons of its own, makes a twisting loop as it unfurls it's 'flower' head (which contains not flowers, but tiny little bulbils). Thus it's alternative name, 'serpent garlic'. Clipping the flower stalk off early on significantly improves bulb size.
It needs a cool winter and spring, and simply will not suceed in hot areas.
Purple Stripe Garlic has very white, thick, bulb skins, streaked with bright purple. They are quite a variable group, with some strongly flavored, some mild, some mid season,some late maturing. They store fairly well.
Porcelain Garlic includes varieties with few (4-8), large fat cloves covered in a very thick, very white bulb skin. The taste is usually strong. They store moderately well if free of disease.
Porcelain image at Filaree Farms

Varieties

Be guided by local varieties. But make sure they genuinely are local! But even within a broad climatic region, there is sometimes enough climatic variation with such 'micro climate' influencing factors as altitude, proximity to the sea, mountain rain shadow effects, and so on that a variety that is reliable in one location may be marginally reliable in another. Advice of knowledgeable local home gardeners may be the key to variety choice.
 California Early and California Late need cold exposure of around 6 weeks below an average of about 4C/40F for proper bulbing and clove development. It is the classic, white skinned garlic 'artichoke garlic' of the supermarkets.
New York White (syn.Polish White) White parchment, slightly blushed with purple, said to be relatively disease tolerant, and better adapted to temperate than warm temperate areas.
Creole This  silverskin garlic is quite a late maturing variety from Central America ( also grown in the Imperial Valley of California). It is adapted to heat and dry conditions, and doesn't do well in more humid and cooler areas. The cloves have a deep purple skin.
German extra hardy A hard neck garlic with a white outer parchment and red skin on the cloves. Noted for it's vigor, strong resistance to winter heaving in temperate areas, and good storage ability.
Roja A fairly common home garden rocambole type with attractive, brownish-red, medium-sized bulbs.
Continental garlic Is more of a generic term covering various white or purple striped hard neck types adapted to more Mediterranean growing conditions.

Garlic Q&A

What is garlic? Garlic is a bulbous plant of the genus allium, which includes leeks, shallots and onions. The most commonly used garlic is allium sativum. What's the difference between a bulb and a clove of garlic? Garlic is sold in bulbs (or "heads"). The picture at the top of this page shows a single bulb. Each bulb can contain up to twenty individual cloves. How do I store garlic? In a cool place, away from direct sunlight and with good air circulation, ideally in a specially made garlic keeper. How do I prepare garlic? Almost any way you want! Garlic can be roasted whole, sliced, chopped, crushed or even eaten raw. Most recipes call for crushed garlic. If you are short of time you can use prepared minced garlic and/or one of the many garlic gadgets available. Which method of preparing garlic gives the strongest taste? Raw crushed garlic. Delicious when used sparingly in salads, on a cooked pizza or in a sandwich. In general the smaller the cut and the less the cooking, the stronger the taste. Which method of preparing garlic gives most health benefits? See the answer above! The most powerful medicinal compound obtained from garlic is allicin. This is released when garlic is crushed and is broken down when the garlic is cooked. Are there dangers associated with garlic? Yes. As with anything strong, it can cause problems. It can also cause botulism if incorrectly stored. See the warnings info. Can I freeze garlic? Yes, but I don't recommend it. See the frozen garlic info. Why are vampires afraid of garlic? The most likely theory is the association between vampirism and mosquito bites - see the info on vampires and on garlic as a mosquito repellent. How do I avoid "garlic breath"? You can't, however chewing parsley can help. For more information see our garlic breath info. What is "elephant garlic"? Despite it's appealing size, elephant garlic doesn't have a very strong flavour and is no substitute for ordinary garlic. Why is garlic called "the Stinking Rose"? Good question, no-one's really sure. Can I grow my own garlic? Definitely! Many people around the world do just that.

References

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