Allicin, garlic constituent

Lachmann G, Lorenz D, Radeck W, Steiper M. The pharmacokinetics of the S35 labeled garlic constituents alliin, allicin and vinyldithiine. Arzneimittel-forschung 1994 44 734-743. 

Constituents that have some known pharmacological activity that contributes to some extent to the efficacy of the product have been identified. These are known as active markers. An example of this category is alliin, which is converted to allicin in presence of allinase enzyme, and is present in garlic. These active markers may or may not have clinically proven efficacy in their own right. A minimum content or range for active markers is usually specified in pharmacopeial articles. A quantitative determination of active marker(s) during... 

Formula, Natrol) used in the garlic-saquinavir study described above (41). In the study by Gurley et al. (39) garlic oil 500 mg did not result in appreciable differences in the 1-hydroxymidazolam/midazolam phenotypic ratio for CYP3A4, the enzyme that mediates the metabolism of saquinavir. Both studies administered the garlic preparations for at least three weeks, and therefore it is unlikely that the duration of therapy would account for the difference between studies. On the other hand, if allicin content is a critical issue, it may be that one of the reasons for the conflicting results between the two studies is potential variability in this active constituent in the two garlic preparations used. 

Finally, even if all garlic preparations were standardized to allicin content, currently the standardization practices and therefore the standardized content can vary significantly from one manufacturer to another, while product inconsistency has not been demonstrated for garlic preparations, there is literature data on the disparity of constituent content among different echinacea products (20) and ginseng products (21) (refer to Chapter 2 for further details). As such, the choice of a specific botanical product or preparation may make a difference in the presence and magnitude of a botanical product rug interaction. 

Movies have depicted its power to repel werewolves and vampires. The characteristic garlic odor derives from the many sulfur compounds it contains. One of the major constituents is allicin, a compound with antibacterial properties. 

The active constituents are usually secondary metabolites, derived from biosynthetie pathways present within the plant tissue. Allicin, a sulphur eompound, present in garlie (Allium sativum) is considered to be the active constituent. It is produced from alliin by an enzymatic reaction in response to injury. Allicin due to its noxious smell proteets garlic from attack of pests also. Thus an active constituent has therapeutic as well as protective activity. 

Known active constituents of garlic (there are at least 35 other constituents whose actions are unknown) ajoene, allicin, aliin, allixin, allyl mercaptan, allyl methyl thiosulfmate, allyl methyl trisulfide, allyl propyl disulfide, diallyl disulfide, diallyl hepta sulfide, diallyl hexa sulfide, diallyl penta sulfide, diallyl sulfide, diallyl tetra sulfide, diallyl tri sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, dirpopyl disulfide, methyl ajoene, methyl allyl thiosulfmate, propyline sulfide, 2-vinyl-4H-l, 3-tithiin, 3-vinyl-4H-1, 2dithiin, S-allyl cysteine sulfoxide, S-allyl mercapto, cysteine. 

The constituents of SC-CO2 extracts of fresh garlic were separated by reversed-phase HPLC, and the efQuent was directly analyzed by HPLC-MS using thermospray and tandem MS (MS-MS) methods (26). Products included allicin (MH, m/z 163),... 

In this chapter, the chemical constituents of AGE have been discussed. SAC, Fru-Arg and tetrahydro-p-carbolines were identified as principal bioactive components of AGE. Traditionally, it has been believed that thiosulfinates, allicin and its derivatives or degradation products were the main bioactive principles of garlic and its products. However, die compounds reported here are not thiosulfinates or their degradation products but more stable, present in the preparation, and most importantly bioactive. 

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