Часник

The bulb of garlic has a strong odor and is typically made up of 10 to 20 cloves. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek and chives. Garlic is native to Central Asia and northeastern Iran. Among alliums, garlic has by far the highest concentrations of initial reaction products, making garlic much more potent than onion, shallot, or leeks. In 2024 world production of garlic was 30 million tonnes, and China accounted for 73% of the total.

The biosynthesis of allicin begins with the conversion of cysteine into S-allyl-L-cysteine, and oxidation of this thioether gives the sulfoxide alliin. Allicin is not present in garlic unless tissue damage occurs. When fresh garlic is chopped or crushed, the enzyme alliinase converts alliin into allicin, which is responsible for the aroma of fresh garlic. Alliin is a sulfoxide that is a natural constituent of fresh garlic. Allicin is unstable and quickly changes into a series of other sulfur-containing compounds such as diallyl disulfide. Allicin, along with its decomposition products diallyl disulfide and diallyl trisulfide, are major contributors to the characteristic odor of garlic. The conversion of allicin to diallyl disulfide and trisulfide takes place particularly rapidly above 37 °C. The sulfur compounds are believed to have evolved as a defensive mechanism, deterring animals such as birds, insects and worms from eating the plant.

The process of cooking garlic removes allicin, thus mellowing its spiciness. During the heating process of garlic, thiosulfinates are mainly decomposed, and nitrogen-containing volatile compounds, such as pyridines and pyrazines, are generated. Cooked garlic also yields Maillard reaction products, which are not sulfur-containing compounds. Studies have reported 85 sulfur-containing and 40 non-sulfur-containing volatile compounds in raw and heated garlic cloves.

Garlic oil is the volatile oil derived from garlic. Garlic oil contains volatile sulfur compounds such as diallyl disulfide, a 60% constituent of the oil. Along with diallyl trisulfide and diallyl tetrasulfide, diallyl disulfide is one of the principal components of the distilled oil of garlic. It is produced during the decomposition of allicin, which is released upon crushing garlic.

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