Allicin production

Allicin 1. 3-Acetyl-6- methoxybenz- aldehyde 1. Ethylene 1. Decomposition products of amygdalin... 

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... 

Garlic can cause heartburn, nausea, and loose stools at high doses, especially in those unaccustomed to it. Its most characteristic and troublesome side effect, however, is persisting breath odor, which no amount of tooth brushing will eradicate. Allicin and its odoriferous metabolic products are actually released into the lung alveoli and exhaled. 

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. 

Egen-Schwind C, Eckard R, Jekat FW, Winterhoff H. Pharmacokinetics of vinyldithiins, transformation products of allicin. Planta Med 1992 58 8-13. 

Dried, powdered garlic products should be standardized to contain 1.3% alliin (the allicin precursor) or have an allicin -generating potential of 0.6%. Enteric-coated formulations are recommended to minimize degradation of the active substances. A daily dose of 600-900 mg/d of powdered garlic is most common. This is equivalent to one clove of raw garlic (2-4 g) per day. 

Plant-derived products Polyphenols (derivatives of hydroxycinnamic acid, hydroxybenzoic acid, flavonols,3 flavones,3 anthocyanidins,3 flavanols,3 isoflavones,3 flavanones,3 stilbenes, lignans), glucosynolates, carotenoids (am /3-, y-, 8-carotene, lycopene, luthein, xeaxantin, canthaxantin), phytic acid, allicin... 

Regardless of the processing procedure used, no garlic preparation available contains allicin, because of its high volatility. Many products report an allicin yield potential when consumed. However, studies have shown that allicin is not produced in significant amounts after ingestion of garlic prod-... 

In the area of garlic research, there are predominantly two schools of thought. One believes allicin and allicin-derived compounds to be responsible for the physiological effects of garlic, whereas the other considers non-allicin-derived compounds (e.g., S-allylcysteine) to be the physiologically active compounds. Several products on the market are known to contain a combination of allicin-derived and non-allicin-derived compounds. 

In turn, allicin is the precursor of various transformation products, including ajoenes, vinyldithines, oligosulphides and polysulphides, depending on the conditions applied. 

Material derived from garlic by steam distillation or extraction in an oily medium contains various allicin transformation products. 

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