Cited by 896Garlic and Onion StudiesChemical synthesis and alkaloidsGenomics, phytochemicals, and oxidative stress

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 163 of the 166 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Bioactive Compounds and Biological Functions of Garlic (Allium sativum L.)

Open access

Abstract

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is a widely consumed spice in the world. Garlic contains diverse bioactive compounds, such as allicin, alliin, diallyl sulfide, diallyl disulfide, diallyl trisulfide, ajoene, and S-allyl-cysteine. Substantial studies have shown that garlic and its bioactive constituents exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, immunomodulatory, cardiovascular protective, anticancer, hepatoprotective, digestive system protective, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, neuroprotective, and renal protective properties. In this review, the main bioactive compounds and important biological functions of garlic are summarized, highlighting and discussing the relevant mechanisms of actions. Overall, garlic is an excellent natural source of bioactive sulfur-containing compounds and has promising applications in the development of functional foods or nutraceuticals for the prevention and management of certain diseases.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3390/foods8070246

Cites

163 of 163 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Figures

Figure 1 The chemical structures of the main organosulfur compounds in garlic.
Figure 1 The chemical structures of the main organosulfur compounds in garlic.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 2 The mechanisms of the antihypertensive properties of garlic extract via increasing the production of nitric oxide (NO) in vascular smooth muscle cells. The l-arginine (L-Arg) in aged garlic extract (AGE) could be transformed into NO and L-citruline (L-Cit) mediated by nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Moreover, the nitrite in the fermented garlic extract (FGE) could be converted into NO in vivo by Bacillus subtilis. NO and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) activated particulate guanylyl cyclase (pGC) and soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC), thus catalyzing the transform of guanosine triphosphate (GTP) to cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). The elevated cGMP activated PKG, and PKG decreased intracellular Ca2+ concentration by increasing intracytoplasmic Ca2+ transport into the sarcoplasmic reticulum through the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) pathway, thereby preventing the release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum to the cytoplasm, and stimulating the Ca2+-activated K+ (BKCa) channel on the cell membrane, as well as reducing the Ca2+ influx. As a result, the vascular smooth muscle relaxed, and the blood vessels dilated.
Figure 2 The mechanisms of the antihypertensive properties of garlic extract via increasing the production of nitric oxide (NO) in vascular smooth muscle cells. The l-arginine (L-Arg) in aged garlic extract (AGE) could be transformed into NO and L-citruline (L-Cit) mediated by nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Moreover, the nitrite in the fermented garlic extract (FGE) could be converted into NO in vivo by Bacillus subtilis. NO and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) activated particulate guanylyl cyclase (pGC) and soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC), thus catalyzing the transform of guanosine triphosphate (GTP) to cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). The elevated cGMP activated PKG, and PKG decreased intracellular Ca2+ concentration by increasing intracytoplasmic Ca2+ transport into the sarcoplasmic reticulum through the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) pathway, thereby preventing the release of Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum to the cytoplasm, and stimulating the Ca2+-activated K+ (BKCa) channel on the cell membrane, as well as reducing the Ca2+ influx. As a result, the vascular smooth muscle relaxed, and the blood vessels dilated.CC BY · PubMed Central
Figure 3 The mechanisms of garlic and its active compounds on the inhibition of the cell cycle in cancer cells. Garlic extract activated ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and checkpoint kinase 2 (CHK2), and inhibited the phosphorylation of Cdc25C and Cdc2, which down-regulated cyclin B1 and up-regulating p21WAF1, thereby inhibiting the cell cycle in the G2/M-phase. Aged garlic extract can down-regulate Cyclin B1 and Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) and block the cell cycle in the G2/M-phase. Diallyl trisulfide and S-propargyl-l-cysteine can also block the cell cycle in the G2/M-phase. Moreover, S-allyl-cysteine induced cell cycle arrest in the G1/S-phase, and allicin induced cell cycle arrest during the S-phase.
Figure 3 The mechanisms of garlic and its active compounds on the inhibition of the cell cycle in cancer cells. Garlic extract activated ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and checkpoint kinase 2 (CHK2), and inhibited the phosphorylation of Cdc25C and Cdc2, which down-regulated cyclin B1 and up-regulating p21WAF1, thereby inhibiting the cell cycle in the G2/M-phase. Aged garlic extract can down-regulate Cyclin B1 and Cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) and block the cell cycle in the G2/M-phase. Diallyl trisulfide and S-propargyl-l-cysteine can also block the cell cycle in the G2/M-phase. Moreover, S-allyl-cysteine induced cell cycle arrest in the G1/S-phase, and allicin induced cell cycle arrest during the S-phase.CC BY · PubMed Central

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

1 retracted

Show all 166 references

Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Han, 2011, Antihypertensive activities of processed garlic on spontaneously hypertensive rats and hypertensive humans, Bot. Stud., 52, 277
  2. Kaur, 2015, A histometric study to assess preventive action of ascorbic acid and garlic on cadmium induced hepatotoxicity in albino mice, Int. J. Pharm. Phytopharmacol. Res., 5, 398
  3. Siddique, 2015, Effects of garlic (Allium sativum) on the weights of liver in albino rats, Pak. J. Med. Health Sci., 9, 1051
  4. 2016, Protective effect of garlic against diabetic retinopathy in adult albino rats, Res. J. Pharm. Biol. Chem. Sci., 7, 2748

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 701–800 of 893

Metadata

Authors
Shang, A., Cao, S.-Y., Xu, X.-Y., Gan, R.-Y., Tang, G.-Y., Corke, H., Mavumengwana, V., & Li, H.-B.
Affiliations
  • Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CN)
  • South African Medical Research Council (ZA)
Corresponding author
  • Gan, Ren-You
  • Li, Hua-Bin
Venue
Foods
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2019-07-05
Volume
8
Issue
7
Pages
246
ISSN
2304-8158 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2955644861
Cited by
896
References
166
Citations by year
2026: 94 · 2025: 142 · 2024: 150 · 2023: 156 · 2022: 161 · 2021: 118 · 2020: 64 · 2019: 7
FWCI
7.82
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Foods (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • SUNScholar (Stellenbosch University) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • the National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC1600100)
  • the Shanghai Basic and Key Program (18JC1410800)
  • the Agri-X Interdisciplinary Fund of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Agri-X2017004)
  • the Key Project of Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Program (2014B020205002)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Garlic and Onion Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Chemical synthesis and alkaloids
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics, phytochemicals, and oxidative stress
Keywords
garlic, bioactive compounds, allicin, alliin, diallyl sulfide, ajoene, S-allylcysteine, sulfur compounds, antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory activity, antibacterial activity, antifungal activity, anticancer activity, hepatoprotection, antidiabetic activity, anti-obesity, neuroprotection, renal protection, cardioprotection, functional foods, nutraceuticals

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review