Garlic Oil

#### Garlic Oil. If the users of this oil were aware of the sort of sufferings the operators in the still-room undergo when **Garlic**** ****Oil**** **is produced, the flavorists would probably appreciate the oil even more, and not complain about its high price. **Garlic**** ****Oil**** **is produced by steam distillation of the crushed garlic, the bulbs of Allium Sativum which is grown all over the world in temperate areas. The oil is distilled in Bulgaria, China, Egypt, France, Germany, and Japan. Egypt has been a major producer during the past two decades. Fresh bulbs are preferred for distillation. **Garlic**** ****Oil**** **is a colorless to pale yellow mobile liquid, and it has an extremely intense obnoxious odor, to a certain degree reminiscent of garlic, but with a predominant mercaptane-like note which masks the delicate, although strong and highly diffusive garlic odor. It is not lachrymatory, but simply so obnoxious that it scares even garlic-enthousiasts. An amino-acid called **Alliin **is found in certain cells of the bulb. Alliin is nearly odorless; however, in separate cells in the undamaged bulb, we find an enzyme which can convert the **Alliin **to the sulfide **Allicin**, a substance which has the typical garlic odor. However, during the steam distillation, the latter material is further converted into other sulfides which we smell in garlic oil, although not in crushed garlic. Thus, garlic oil is *not** *representative of the flavor effect of fresh crushed garlic. The oil is, however, used to a great extent as a replacement for garlic in the same way that spice oils replace botanical spices. Dehydrated garlic is now available as a fine powder. It yields a more true-to-nature aroma than does the essential oil. The aroma of the powder appears immediately upon contact with the slightest amount of moisture. The odor principles of garlic and of garlic oil have been produced synthetically. **Garlic Oil **has obtained great popularity during the past 20 years, not only in terms of the increasing popularity of garlic itself, but also because of its therapeutic value in pharmaceutical preparations. The annual production of garlic oil is limited to a few hundred kilos, mainly because of the very low yield by distillation. The oil is occasionally distilled from dry bulbs in countries other than those who cultivate the garlic. See also **Onion**** ****Oil**** **and **Onion**** ****Oleoresin.**