by Playfuls Staff |
15th February 2007
An Argentinean-led study suggests crushing garlic before cooking can reduce the loss of garlic's healthful [more] properties.
Claudio Galmarini and colleagues at the Institute of Nutrition and Technology of Foods in Argentina note many past studies of garlic and health used raw garlic. The new study joins a handful of others to examine how the heat of cooking affects chemical compounds associated with garlic's beneficial health effects.
The researchers found even a few minutes of cooking reduces the levels of the chemical compounds. That reduction is steepest in whole garlic and less pronounced in garlic that has been crushed before cooking.
The scientists say crushing or chopping garlic releases an enzyme, alliinase, that catalyzes the formation of allicin, which then breaks down to form a variety of healthful organosulfur compounds.
Galmarini and colleagues believe crushing garlic before cooking might allow alliinase to work before cooking inactivates the enzyme. Their report notes allowing crushed garlic to stand for 10 minutes before cooking may further enhance formation of those compounds before heat inactivates alliinase.
The study is to appear in the March 7 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
© 2007 UPI
