Alterations in the Physicochemical Properties and Antioxidant Activity during Aging of Stored Raw Garlic

Abstract

Garlic, a once-a-year crop, is mass-produced in a single event. Most of the garlic harvested during the year, unless consumed or processed immediately, should be stored. Stored raw garlic (SRG) can be used to make black garlic (BG) via aging, and storage may affect the properties and quality of the BG compared with the use of raw garlic that has not been stored. This study was performed to identify the effect of long-term storage of raw garlic on the quality of BG products. SRG was aged for 21 days at 40–86 °C for BG production. Moisture content and pH gradually decreased with the aging period. Total phenolic, total flavonoid, and fructose contents were significantly increased during the aging period. Compared with non-stored raw garlic (NSRG), alliin and S-allylcysteine (SAC) contents were 1.7-fold and 5.9-fold higher in SRG, respectively, and γ-glutamyl-S-allylcysteine (γ-GSAC) content was 2.8-fold lower in SRG. The contents of alliin and γ-GSAC reduced as the aging period of SRG and NSRG progressed. However, the SAC content of NSRG increased with aging, but the SAC content of SRG decreased or increased slightly with extended aging. The antioxidant activity was also higher in BG made from NSRG rather than SRG. These results show that the SAC content is relatively low in BG manufactured from SRG compared with NSRG. Our findings suggest that it is necessary to establish an aging method suitable for SRG in BG production with high SAC content, a representative indicator of BG.

Promoting the Aging Process and Enhancing the Production of Antioxidant Components of Garlic through Pulsed Electric Field Treatments

“…SAC is crucial for aged garlic’s antioxidant and other physiological functions [ 59 , 60 ]. Thus, increasing the content of SAC in aged garlic can enhance its nutritional value.…”

Bromatological Analysis and Characterization of Phenolics in Snow Mountain Garlic

“…Moisture to seven different varieties of fresh garlic (Bjetin, Vekan, Havel, Ivan, Rusák, Havran, Lukan) has been determined. The authors found a range of 65 to 57% humidity; however, they do not report the a w of every garlic studied [14,15]. Moisture content and a w , in addition to temperature, are the parameters that most affect the rate of deterioration reactions in foods.…”