Fascinating Facts - Garlic
- All varieties of garlic (and there over 450) are members of the Lily family.
- Crushed garlic can be used as a dressing for external wounds.
- Garlic contains a wide range of trace minerals. These include copper, iron, zinc, magnesium, germanium, and especially selenium.
- In addition, garlic contains many sulphur compounds, vitamins A and C, fibre, and various amino acids.
- The mature garlic plant produces a bulb, sometimes called a head of garlic, with numerous individual cloves inside the paper-like wrapper. An individual clove when planted will reproduce an entire bulb after about 9 months.
- Fresh garlic is generally odour-free until crushed.
- It is the polysulphide allicin, as well as other substances such asadenosine and ajoene, that are key to garlic’s health benefits.
- Raw, freshly minced garlic has the most health benefits.
- Although garlic is sometimes called “the stinking rose,” it can actually cure your rose plants from aphid attacks. Simply mix crushed garlic with water and spritz the leaves and flowers with the spray.
- Drinking lemon juice or eating a few slices of lemon will stop bad garlic breath.
- The flavor of garlic is most intense just after it has been minced.
- Not all is good about garlic and it is certainly not for everyone. Those on blood-thinning medication must not take garlic, because it inhibits the clotting of blood. For the same reason, garlic should not be taken before a surgery.