“There is so much more to garlic than its distinctive smell and strong, pungent taste”. This has been expressed in recent years by a group of scientists from the University of Queensland (Australia); “hidden superpowers” This plant, native to Asia, has been cultivated in the Mediterranean for over 7,000 years and is now produced almost all over the planet.
Researchers have spent many years unraveling the two mysteries. First, if there is a so-called truth medicinal properties of garlic (allium sativum). Second, why? it is possible to significantly increase crop yields choosing certain plants over generations, but it’s impossible to get virus-free garlic.
Because, at least in Australia (and in other parts of the planet), All current commercial garlic varieties contain viruses that do not affect flavor or nutrition.however, it has a negative impact on crop yield.
“It can be up to ten or twelve viruses on infected plants and most have at least six viruses,” he says.
Understanding the cause and effects of the existence of this virus set is the challenge Thomas and his team addressed in their research. They do this with the doctoral work of Sarı Nurulita. The aim is to develop reliable virus detection tests and to investigate why higher and lower garlic plants share the same viral profile.
Selection of ‘elite garlic’
“Garlic is a vegetatively produced productand once infected, the entire lineage is infected,” Thomas explains.
Stephen Harper, one of the study’s co-authors, and his team have succeeded in previous studies by selecting light bulbs over several generations. higher yielding corms among infected garlic plants. In fact, they even three times more performance with the best choices.
But now Nurulita’s work is that all these choices’elite garlic‘ is still infected, ‘and we don’t know why,’ admits Thomas. Nurulita also investigated virus concentrations and mapped their entire genomes.
“I did not find any significant difference in virus levels and I could not identify a clear difference between the two different lines of elite and low yielding garlic seeds,” Nurulita emphasizes. Thomas explained The team also tried tissue culture propagation to produce virus-free garlic, but without success..
“We think maybe gene silencing (deletion) occurs naturally in the plant. It may depend on which virus has an advantage over a particular tooth or the order of transmission. There are so many different possibilities, it’s not a simple matter. But to see if we can determine whether gene silencing is responsible. “We’re going to look at absolute levels of the virus,” explains Thomas.
Other scientists are also investigating this issue. healing properties of garlicHE It has been used as a natural remedy for centuries.. For example, it is known that the athletes of the first Olympic Games in ancient Greece (starting from 776 BC) ate to increase their strength and endurance.
Garlic, a natural antibiotic
In both world wars, soldiers were given garlic. prevent gangrene. More recently, scientists have discovered that lGarlic compounds act as a natural antibiotic to prevent and combat various diseases and ailments.
“Since their discovery, the antibiotic properties found in garlic compounds have been the subject of extensive research,” says Eric Block, a professor of chemistry at the University of Albany who conducted research on garlic five years ago. Combination of garlic and fluoride as drug therapy.
To test their hypothesis, the scientists modified several garlic compounds, replacing hydrogen atoms with fluorine atoms, and checked their effects. ‘Superpowers’ as antiangiogenic and antithrombotic agents. The results showed that modified compounds had higher biological activity and should be considered in the development of future drug therapies.
A new discovery from a team of North American researchers: Aged garlic extract helps regulate immune cell distribution and lowers blood LDL (“bad”) cholesterol in obese adults..
Aged garlic extract altered the secretion of inflammatory proteins from immune cells. “This means May help prevent chronic diseases associated with low-grade inflammation, such as cardiovascular disease, in obese adults”, the researchers concluded.
“Garlic or garlic supplements available in health food stores can be part of a diet. healthy daily routine”says Susan Percival, professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida and director of the study on aged Elk garlic.
Researchers reveal that garlic can be made into aged garlic extract by storing it in an ethanol solution for up to 20 months. Multiple studies have shown that aged garlic also benefits the health of people who are not obese. For example, extract reduces cold and flu symptomsand increases the number of immune cells.
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