Allium sativum L.

English name:

Garlic.

Description:

Annual, glabrous, bulbous herb with pungent odour. Bulb short, consists of several smaller bulbs (called cloves) and is surrounded by a thin, white or pinkish sheath. Leaves flat and narrow, attenuate-acute at the apex; nerves parallel. Flowers white or pink with bulbils in globose head covered with a large bract.

Flowering period:

August - November.

Distribution:

Cultivated all over the country for culinary use.

Parts used:

The bulbs, collected at the end of winter or the beginning of spring, are used in fresh or dried form.

Chemical composition:

The essential oil obtained from the bulbs contains allicin, diallyl disulfide, allyl propyl disulfide and other sulfur compounds.

Therapeutic uses:

The bulb constitutes an antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anthelmintic remedy. It is employed in the treatment of bacillary dysentery and amoebiasis. A rectal injection of 100 ml of 5 to 10% solution is effective for oxyuriasis and colitis. The 20% tincture cures cough, bronchitis and pertussis. The aqueous solution of bulb juice in a nasal instillation and a gruel made with the bulbs are active on coryza and influenza. It is also hypocholesterolaemic and thus useful in hyper-cholesterolaemia and atherosclerosis. A poultice of pounded bulb is used to treat boils, abscesses, phlegmons and centipede bites.

Source: Medicinal plants in Viet Nam (Institute of Materia Medica - HANOI - WHO/WPRO, 1990, 444 p.)