Allium is the dried bulb of the plant of the genus Allium AIliummacrostemon Bge. or Allium AlliumchinensisG. Don of the lily family.

Alias wild white head, small root garlic, mountain garlic, bitter garlic, little garlic, small root vegetables, small root vegetables, wild onions, Allium white head, etc., most parts of the country are distributed, but mainly produced in the northeast, Hebei, Jiangsu, Hubei and other places, for the Ministry of Health in 2002 published 87 kinds of dual-use items.

According to the pharmacopoeia

This product is the dried bulb of Allium macrostemon Bge. or Allium chinense G.Don of the lily family. It is harvested in summer and fall, washed, removed the roots, steamed or scalded in boiling water, and dried in the sun.

Properties ]: Rootlets are irregularly ovoid, 0.5-1.5cm high, 0.5-1.8cm in diameter, yellowish white or yellowish brown, wrinkled, translucent, covered with white membranous scales, with raised bulbous discs at the bottom. The texture is hard, horny-like. Garlic odor, slightly spicy taste.

Scallion: Slightly flattened long ovate, 1~3cm high, 0.3~1.2cm in diameter, yellowish brown or brownish surface, with shallow longitudinal wrinkles. The texture is soft, the section can be seen in 2 to 3 layers of scale leaves. Chewing the sticky teeth.

Sexual Flavor and Meridian]: Pungent, bitter, warm. Attributes to the heart, lung, stomach and large intestine meridians.

Functions and Indications 】Tong Yang disperses knots, moves Qi and directs stagnation. Used for chest paralysis and heart pain, epigastric and abdominal plumpness and distension, diarrhea and dysentery.

Usage and dosage] 5-10g.

Storage]: Keep in a dry place, prevent moth.

Efficacy of Allium sativum

2.1 Antioxidant Activity

It is found that Allium sativum juice has obvious protective effect on serum SOD, CAT and T lymphocytes of rats and can significantly inhibit the formation of serum lipid peroxide. In addition, the aqueous extract of Allium cepa had a certain scavenging effect on hydroxyl radicals.

Xia Xinkui et al. further verified that the crude polysaccharide of Allium sativum has the dual effects of anti-hydroxyl radicals and superoxide anion radicals.

2.2 Bactericidal activity

The water extract of Allium sativum has a wide range of bacteriostatic ability, and has a more ideal bacteriostatic ability at higher concentrations. There were inter-bacterial differences in the strength of the antibacterial ability, in the order of Staphylococcus aureus>Bacillus subtilis>Bacillus cereus>Escherichia coli>Pseudomonas aeruginosa>Salmonella. In addition, Allium sativum extract has good heat stability, and its bacteriostatic factors need to be further studied.

2.3 Inhibition of cancer

In vitro test found that the 20% ethanol extract of Allium sativum inhibited the enhancement of phospholipid synthesis in Hela cells, meanwhile, the two-stage carcinogenicity test of mouse skin and mouse lung showed that Allium sativum had obvious inhibitory effect.

Wu Zhimin et al. found that the volatile oil of Allium cepa had a killing effect on human gastric cancer cells, and further research found that this killing effect was mainly realized by inducing cell apoptosis.

2.4 Platelet inhibition

The volatile oils of Allium sativum and Allium sativum contain methylallyl trisulfide which has strong inhibitory effect on platelet aggregation.

2.5 Regulate blood lipid, anti-atherosclerosis

Studies have confirmed that Allium sativum preparations can shrink atherosclerotic plaques and reduce the thickness of enlarged arterial walls.

2.6 Antidepressant activity

Lee et al. conducted a preliminary study on the antidepressant effect of aqueous extract of Allium sativum on the basis of two models: forced swimming experiment in mice and hanging tail experiment in mice, and the experimental results showed that the aqueous extract of Allium sativum has certain antidepressant effect on mice.

2.7 Analgesic and hypoxic activity

Wu Hongyuan carried out analgesic and hypoxia tolerance tests on the decoction of raw and artifacts of Allium cepa, and the results showed that the decoction of raw and artifacts of Allium cepa had strong analgesic effects, and both of them were able to prolong the time of hypoxia tolerance in mice under various conditions.

Application of Allium sativum in health food

Allium cepa has a unique onion and garlic flavor, and as a wild vegetable, it has the characteristics of white and transparent, soft skin and glutinous meat, crispy without residue, and rich aroma, and it has been regarded as a good food on the table since ancient times.

Allium cepa is widely distributed in our country, rich in resources, and can be used to develop into a variety of functional foods with its rich nutrition and strong health effects.

Such as it can be crushed into powder and added to frozen dumplings, buns, steamed bread, noodles and cookies and other foods, not only to increase its nutritional health functions, but also to improve the flavor of the product; can also be used to contain steroidal saponins, nitrogen-containing compounds such as anticoagulant, lipid-lowering, removal of free radicals, added to ham and sausage and other meat products, so as to make it with the prevention of cardiovascular disease, anti-tumor, anti-aging and other health functions! In addition, the juice of Allium sativum is mixed with jujube and hawthorn to make health drinks, which have the effects of lowering blood lipids, preventing atherosclerosis, anticancer and preventing aging.