20 facts about watercress
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, watercress is one of the healthiest plants. Although it is one of the oldest plants ...
Garlic, well known to all, is a vegetable, spice, and medicinal plant - in this field, it is a leader with clinically proven effectiveness. It is produced on an industrial scale - China is the leading producer in the world, and it is also cultivated in many home gardens, mainly for food purposes, and sometimes due to its beneficial effects on other species. He is also credited with a magical role, believing that he protects homes from black magic, evil forces, and vampires. But above all, it is difficult to imagine any cuisine in the world that does not use this spice.
There are about 800 species here, of which about 690 belong to the garlic genus. Representatives of this genus are distributed on all continents of the Northern Hemisphere and are also found in very scattered areas in the equatorial zone and in South Africa in the other hemisphere. Many species of the garlic genus are popular vegetables, many species are cultivated as ornamental plants.
Its original form was a wild variety of Allium longicuspis, which today can be found in China and Korea.
The Chinese were the first to use garlic and it was popularized there, mainly due to its properties, which were also noticed by the Indians - around 450 BC. There was even a song praising this vegetable.
It is mentioned in writings from, among others, ancient Greece, Rome, Phoenicia, and Egypt; it was known by the Arabs and Assyrians.
Chronicles say that the builders of the pyramids also used garlic to strengthen their bodies. When there was a shortage of garlic on the construction site, there was a rebellion. According to manuscripts, in Egyptian times, as many as 22 out of 800 preparations known to science at that time were based on garlic.
It has an underground bulb (a transformed underground shoot with a storage and spore function, the main part of which are leaves), called a bulb. An onion is composed of several or a dozen or so bulbs, called cloves (these are buds with a storage function). The head is spherical, and slightly flattened.
Only adventitious roots grow from the heel, which die when the plant stops growing.
The number of assimilation leaves indicates the size of the underground bulb.
The flowers of cultivated varieties are sterile - the seeds do not set. Between the flowers, 20-30 angular air bulbs with a diameter of up to 1 cm are formed, which are used for vegetative (asexual) reproduction.
Fresh garlic cloves contain approximately 60-65% water, 32% carbohydrates (including inulin), and 5.6-6.45% protein. They also contain vitamins: C, which is the most abundant (up to 31 mg in 100 g), B vitamins (especially B1), PP, and A. Among the minerals, large amounts include potassium, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus, as well as sulfur. Garlic cloves contain a volatile oil with alliin (an organosulfur chemical compound) and the enzyme alliinase, which, when crushed, converts alliin into allicin and pyruvic acid. In addition, garlic oil contains, among others: salicin, phytosterols, spirogenic acid, ammonia, and many smelly alkyl and methyl disulfides and trisulfides (also with antibiotic properties).
In some situations, garlic may be considered a poisonous plant - it can cause poisoning, including death to dogs and cats. It can also be dangerous to humans if consumed in excessive amounts. In extreme situations, it may damage the liver and kidneys. Some people are allergic to garlic, which may result in allergic contact dermatitis, anaphylactic shock, photodermatosis, or even skin burns. It may also affect the effectiveness of some medicines by making them more or less effective.
It is officially listed in the pharmacy code (Pharmacopoeia), described in volume 3 of the European Commission monograph ESCOP and volume 1 of the World Health Organization WHO monograph.
The main active substance is alliin, which is broken down by the enzyme alliinase to allicin. Other metabolites are ajoenes, which include: platelet aggregation inhibitors (anticoagulant).
It is not recommended for coughs tinged with blood, fever associated with pneumonia, or advanced nephritis. Garlic should not be used in cases of acute gastritis or infants under 10 months of age. Garlic and its preparations become dangerous when used in large quantities.
Although raw garlic has a characteristic (unpleasant) taste and smell, when added to cooked and fried dishes, it loses it, enriching the taste of the dish.
It is removed by chlorophyll contained in green parts of plants (parsley, nettle, sorrel, rue), consuming an apple, roasted coffee beans, juniper berries, coriander, and cardamom seeds, and drinking milk also helps.
Air bulbs grow slower - they usually need two years of cultivation to produce a bulb of the desired size. Bulbs are usually planted in early spring, but they can also be planted in autumn. The one planted in spring is harvested in August or September, and the autumn one - in July. A folk tradition is to plant garlic on the shortest day of the year.
The main production center is in Shandong Province. China produces over 75% of the world's garlic (23.305.888 tons per year). India ranks second with an annual production of 2.910.000 tons. Worldwide, 30.708.243 tons of garlic are produced annually.
