Garlic

Garlic is an ancient herb with enduring relevance Garlic (Allium sativum) is one of those rare plants that has never really left the human diet. Long before capsules, extracts and standardised herbal medicines existed, garlic was being used in Egypt, Greece, Rome, India and China both as food and as part of traditional health practices. Historical records describe its use among labourers, soldiers and athletes, where it was valued as a strengthening food and general tonic. Ancient medical traditions also used garlic for respiratory complaints, digestion and general vitality. What makes garlic especially interesting today is that its traditional reputation is no longer its only story. Modern research has identified a complex family of naturally occurring sulfur-containing compounds that help explain why garlic continues to attract scientific attention. Among the best known are alliin, compounds derived from alliin such as allicin, and the stable water-soluble compound S-allyl cysteine (SAC). From garlic bulb to active compounds! Garlic chemistry changes depending on how the bulb is prepared. Alliin is naturally present in intact garlic. When garlic tissue is crushed or disrupted, the enzyme alliinase acts on alliin and produces other sulfur compounds, most notably allicin. This is one of the reasons freshly crushed garlic develops its characteristic aroma. S-allyl cysteine, or SAC, is different. It is a stable, water-soluble organosulfur compound particularly associated with specially processed garlic preparations. Because SAC can be measured and standardised, it has become an important marker compound in modern garlic research. This distinction is particularly relevant to HIVITA Garlic, because the formula uses two garlic extracts and, one provides alliin while the other is standardised to SAC. This gives HIVITA a more interesting formulation story than simply describing the product as “garlic powder.”