Abstract

Spectrophotometric, GC and HPLC methods were used to determinate allicin concentration in garlic-based products (garlic powder, garlic oil and garlic tablets). Allicin was extracted using a mixture of water and ethanol and analyzed by the three methods. The results revealed that the GC method was unsuitable for allicin quantitation because of high coefficient of variations and high temperatures. The spectrophotometric method was the simplest and most effective method for solid garlic-based products. The HPLC method was more accurate for allicin quantitation in all garlic-based products, especially liquids. Furthermore, the HPLC method allowed the simultaneous quantitation of allicin and allicin degradation products such as diallyl sulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, diallyl disulfide and diallyl trisulfide. Based on the spectrophotometric and HPLC method, garlic oil contained the highest allicin concentration, followed by the garlic tablets and garlic powder.

Keywords:

Allicin, garlic products, gas chromatography, high pressure liquid chromatography, spectrophotomety,

References

1. Ali, M., M. Thomson and M. Afzal, 2000. Garlic and onions: Their effect on eicosanoid metabolism and its clinical relevance. Prostag. Leukotr. Ess., 62(2): 55-73.
   CrossRef    PMid:10780871    
2. Bachrach, G., A. Jamil, R. Naor, G. Tai, Z. Ludmer and D. Steinberg, 2011. Garlic allicin as a potential agent for controlling oral pathogens. J. Med. Food, 14(11): 1338-1343.
   CrossRef    PMid:21548800    
3. Baghalian, K., S.A. Ziai, M.R. Naghavi, H.N. Badi and A. Khalighi, 2005. Evaluation of allicin content and botanical traits in Iranian garlic (Allium sativum L.) ecotypes. Sci. Hortic., 103(2): 155-166.
   CrossRef    
4. Banerjee, S.K. and S.K. Maulik, 2002. Effect of garlic on cardiovascular disorders: A review. Nutr. J., 1: 1-14.
   CrossRef    PMid:12537594 PMCid:PMC139960    
5. Calvey, E.M., J.A. Roach and E. Block, 1994. Supercritical fluid chromatography of garlic (Allium sativum) extracts with mass spectrometric identification of Allicin. J. Chromatogr. Sci., 32(3): 93-96.
   CrossRef    PMid:8200919    
6. Han, J., L. Lawson, G. Han and P. Han, 1995. A spectrophotometric method for quantitative determination of allicin and total garlic thiosulfinates. Anal. Biochem., 225(1): 157-160.
   CrossRef    PMid:7778769    
7. Hirsch, K., M. Danilenko, J. Giat, T.A. Miron, Rabinkov, M. Wilchek, D. Mirelman, J. Levy and Y. Sharoni, 2000. Effect of purified allicin, the major ingredient of freshly crushed garlic, on cancer cell proliferation. Nutr. Cancer, 38(2): 245-254.
   CrossRef    PMid:11525603    
8. Khar, A., K. Banerjee, R.J. Manjusha and K.E. Lawande, 2011. Evaluation of garlic ecotypes for allicin and other allyl thiosulphinates. Food Chem., 128(4): 988-996.
   CrossRef    
9. Lawson, L.D., 1998. Garlic: A review of its medicinal effects and indicated active compounds. In: Lawson, L.D. and R. Bauer (Ed.), Phytomedicines of Europe: Chemistry and Biological Activity. ACS Symposium Series, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 691: 176-209.
   CrossRef    
10. Lawson, L.D. and C.D. Gardner, 2005. Composition, stability and bioavailability of garlic products being used in a clinical trial. J. Agr. Food Chem., 53(16): 6254-6261.
    CrossRef    PMid:16076102 PMCid:PMC2584604    
11. Lawson, L.D., Z.J. Wang and B.G. Hughes, 1991. Identification and HPLC quantitation of the sulfides and dialk (en)yl thiosulfinates in commercial garlic products. Planta Med., 57(4): 363-370.
    CrossRef    PMid:1775579    
12. Lemar, K.M., M.A. Aon, S. Cortassa, B.O. Rourke, C.T. Muller and D. Lloyd, 2007. Diallyl disulphide depletes glutathione in Candida albicans: Oxidative stress-mediated cell death studied by two-photon microscopy. Yeast, 24(8): 695-706.
    CrossRef    PMid:17534841 PMCid:PMC2292485    
13. Li, Y. and S.Y. Xu, 2007. Preparation of garlic powder with high allicin content. Agric. Sci. China, 6(7): 890-898.
    CrossRef    
14. Miron, T., A. Rabinkov, D. Mirelman, M. Wilchek and L .Weiner, 2000. The mode of action of allicin: Its ready permeability through phospholipid membranes may contribute to its biological activity. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1463(1): 20-30.
    Direct Link
15. Miron, T., I. Shin, G. Feigenblat, L. Weiner, D. Mirelman, M. Wilchek and A. Rabinkov, 2002. A spectrophotometric assay for allicin, alliin and alliinase (alliin lyase) with a chromogenic thiol: Reaction of 4-mercaptopyridine with thiosufinates. Anal. Biochem., 307(1): 76-83.
    CrossRef    
16. Mondy, N., A. Naudin, J.P. Christides, N. Mandon and J. Auger, 2001. Comparison of GC-MS and HPLC for the analysis of Allium volatiles. Chromatographia, 53(1): S356-S360.
    CrossRef    
17. Oommen, S., R.J. Anto, G. Srinivas and D. Karunagaran, 2004. Allicin (from garlic) induces caspase-mediated apoptosis in cancer cells. Eur. J. Pharmacol., 485(1-3): 97-103.
    CrossRef    PMid:14757128    
18. Osman, H. and Y.K. Chin, 2006. Comparative sensitivities of cholesterol analysis using GC, HPLC and spectrophotometric methods. Malays. J. Anal. Sci., 10(2): 205-210.
    Direct Link
19. Sigounas, G., J. Hooker, A. Anagnostou and M. Steiner, 1997. S-allylmercaptocysteine inhibits cell proliferation and reduces the viability of erythroleukemia, breast and prostate cancer cell lines. Nutr. Cancer, 27(2): 186-191.
    CrossRef    PMid:9121948    
20. Song, K. and J.A. Milner, 2001. The influence of heating on the anticancer properties of garlic. Am. Soc. Nutr. Sci., 131(3S): 1054S-1057S.
    Direct Link
21. Tung-Hsim Y. and W. Chung-May, 1989. Stability of Allicin in garlic juice. J. Food Sci., 54(4): 977-981.
    CrossRef    Direct Link
22. Tripathi, K., 2009. A review-garlic, the spice of life-(Part-I). Asian J. Res. Chem., 2(1): 8-13.
    Direct Linkhttp://www.cabdirect.org/abstracts/20103346215.html
23. Velisek, J., R. Kubec and J. Davidek, 1997. Chemical composition and classification of culinary and pharmaceutical garlic-based products. Z. Lebensm. Unters. F. A, 204(2): 161-164.
    CrossRef    
24. Vernin, G., J. Metzger, D. Fraisse and C. Scharff, 1986. GC-MS (EI, PCI, NCI) computer analysis of volatile sulfur compounds in garlic essential oils. Application of the mass fragmentometry SIM technique 1. Planta Med., 52(2): 96-101.
    CrossRef    

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

Open Access Policy

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Copyright

The authors have no competing interests.