ALLICIN

Allicin is naturally related to garlic: Garlic can produce this substance. But the way it does is a fascinant subject that have been unreveiled only in the midst of twenty century, a relatively recent time considering that the medicinal applications of garlic surmount to the Egyptians, and probably before. The milestones of the discoveries related to allicin, its precursors and derivatives are summarized in this page. For a more extensive knowledge of allicin history, the reader may consult the references.



  • 1844. T. WERTHEIM. Distillation of “garlic oil”. He first termed “allyl ” (from allium sativum) to CH2=CHCH2


  • 1892. F. W . SEMMLER. Steam distillation of crushed garlic that yielded diallyl disulfide C3 H5 SSC3 H5


  • 1944. C. CAVALLITO. Isolation and characterization of an ethanolic extract from garlic:C3 H5 S(O)SC3 H5 which he named ALLICIN (scientific name, diallyl thiosulfinate)

  • 1947. Microbiological assays with allicin and other alkyl thiosulfinates (Small,Bayley and Cavallito)


  • 1948. STOLL, V.A. and SEEBECK, K. E. Isolation of alliin, allylcysteine oxide, the allicin precursor. Allicin is produced when this substrate comes in contact with the enzime alliinase

  • 1971. Analysis of allicin and other garlic products by GC, MS ( Brodnitz,Pascale)

  • 1971 E. BLOCK Studies on allicin's decomposition products and mechanism of formation

  • 1983. APITZ-CASTRO and his research group discover a compound in garlic with antithrombotic properties. They named it "ajoene" .This molecule is a condensation product of allicin.
    Bibliography
    Semmler,F.W. 1892. The essential oil of garlic. Arch. Pharm. 230:40

    Cavallito, C.J. and Bailey, J.H. (1944). Allicin, the antibacterial principe of Allium sativum. I. Isolation, physical properties and antibacterial action. J. Am. Chem. Soc 65, 1950-1951.

    Small, L.V., Bayley, J.H., and Cavallito,C. (1947) Alkyl thiosulfinates J. Am. Chem. Soc,69,1710-1713

    Brodnitz,M. Pascale,J.V., Van Derslice,I.J. J. Agric. Food. Chem. (1971), 19 ,273-275

    Block,E., Ahmad,S. (1984) Am. Chem.Soc. 106.8295-8296

    Block,E. (1985). The chemistry of garlic and onions. Sci.Am. 252: 114-119

    Apitz-Castro,R.,Cabrera,S., Cruz,M., Ledezma,E.,Jain,M.K. Thromb.Res. 1983,32,155-169

    Block,E., Ahmad,S., Jain, M., Crecely,R., Apitz-Castro,R., Cruz,M. (1984) (E,Z)-ajoene: A potent antithrombotic agent from garlic. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 106, 8295-8296.

    Block,E. Garlic and Other Alliums. The Lore and the Science. The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, UK, 2010

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