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Properties of Allicin

Allicin is a phytochemical found in garlic. When garlic is crushed or chopped the sulfur based compound alliin mixes with an enzyme to creat allicin. Allicin looks yellowish and oily, and it gives garlic its strong odor.Allicin different properties offer many health benefits. Allicin's properties include: antifungal, antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functions.

  1. Antifungal Property

    • Allicin inhibits both the germination of fungus spores and the growth of hyphae, according to the results of a study from Fujita-Gakuen University School of Medical Technology published in the article "Evaluation of the In Vitro Antifungal Activity of Allicin". Hyphae is the part of a fungus that eventually produces the reproductive structure.

    Antimicrobial Property

    • According to "Antimicrobial properties of allicin from garlic", from the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, allicin's antimicrobial properties result from its chemical reaction with thiol groups of various enzymes. Allicin's chemical reaction disrupts essential metabolism processes in several different bacteria.

    Antioxidant Property

    • The report, "The antioxidant properties of garlic compounds: allyl cysteine, alliin, allicin, and allyl disulfide", by from the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, states that allicin suppresses the formation of superoxide, a free radical.

      "Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties of garlic and onions", an article in Nutrition and Food Science, also reported that allicin scavenges other oxidizing agents, thus lowering any damage the oxides may cause.

    Anti-Inflammatory Property

    • According to the same Food and Nutrition Science article also reported that allicin inhibited the production of pro-inflammatory cytokine messengers in subjects with inflammatory bowel disease. Allicin's anti-inflammatory property is tied to the antioxidant property, as free radicals cause inflammation. By reducing the damage oxides cause with its antioxidant function, allicin reduces the amount of inflammation in the body in addition to inhibiting cytokine messengers.

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