Garlic: retrospect, status quo and dimensions

Abstract

‘Garlic’ (Allium sativum L.) is the second most important cultivated Allium known throughout the world. It is known for its versatile use as a spice, condiment, vegetable and an intended medicinal panacea. Its clove contains sulphur-based compound ‘Alliin’ (S-allyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide) predominantly as an active ingredient, which on physical injury to the clove becomes ‘Allicin’. Alliin and allicin both are devoid of lachrymatory factor so, it does not make one tears-up while chopping garlic cloves. Origin, history, phylogeny, different types with classification, propagation, bulbils, flowering potential, studies with fertile clones, germplasm, improvement efforts along with the worth knowing well-researched facts about garlic are consolidated in the present paper. This review aims to convey an amalgamated overview of garlic and necessarily provides a retrospect of garlic’s past to have a rear-view and helps to understand the status quo from the research standpoint further. It is an attempt to speculate garlic’s research dimensions.