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Review
. 2020 Jul 15;9(7):619.
doi: 10.3390/antiox9070619.

Potential Health Benefit of Garlic Based on Human Intervention Studies: A Brief Overview

Johura Ansary  1 , Tamara Yuliett Forbes-Hernández  2 , Emilio Gil  3 , Danila Cianciosi  1 , Jiaojiao Zhang  1 , Maria Elexpuru-Zabaleta  4 , Jesus Simal-Gandara  5 , Francesca Giampieri  1   2   6 , Maurizio Battino  1   2   7
Affiliations
Review

Potential Health Benefit of Garlic Based on Human Intervention Studies: A Brief Overview

Johura Ansary et al. Antioxidants (Basel). .

Abstract

Garlic is a polyphenolic and organosulfur enriched nutraceutical spice consumed since ancient times. Garlic and its secondary metabolites have shown excellent health-promoting and disease-preventing effects on many human common diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, blood pressure, and diabetes, through its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and lipid-lowering properties, as demonstrated in several in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies. The present review aims to provide a comprehensive overview on the consumption of garlic, garlic preparation, garlic extract, and garlic extract-derived bioactive constituents on oxidative stress, inflammation, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, skin, bone, and other common diseases. Among the 83 human interventional trials considered, the consumption of garlic has been reported to modulate multiple biomarkers of different diseases; in addition, its combination with drugs or other food matrices has been shown to be safe and to prolong their therapeutic effects. The rapid metabolism and poor bioavailability that have limited the therapeutic use of garlic in the last years are also discussed.

Keywords: garlic; metabolism and bioavailability; polyphenols health benefits; sulfur-containing compounds.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic illustration of absorption, metabolism, and distribution of garlic organosulfur compounds in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The absorption of garlic occurs in the GI tract where allicin is released from alliin and contacts with cystine that is released from protein diet, forming S-allylmercaptocysteine (SAMC). After metabolism, the secondary metabolites of allicin including E-ajoene, 2-ethenyl-4H-1, 3-dithiin, and diallyl disulfide (DADS) are available in blood, urine, and faces.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of garlic modulation of biomarkers in cancer, antioxidant activities, cardiovascular disease, bone, inflammation, and metabolic disorders in clinical trials. The symbol (↓) denotes reduced activity and (↑) denotes increased activity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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