Elephant Garlic: A Crop of North West Himalayas

Abstract

The Cambridge dictionary defines garlic as “a plant of the onion family that has a strong taste and smell and is used in cooking to add flavour. In botanical term, it is Allium sativum (a species in the onion’s genus) which in the Charaka-Samhita (the medical text from India), mentioned as an antidote for heart disease and arthritis. The word ‘Garlic’ continued to create a mental image of a compound bulb composed of aromatic small cloves until you encounter ‘Elephant garlic’. Elephant garlic differing from normal garlic is the source of bewilderment. Its name ‘elephant garlic’ comes from the big size cloves it composed of; discussed here the literature based explanation to the fact, elephant garlic different than that of normal garlic in many ways.