Many food products have long been used as valuable medicines, having a host of properties that are beneficial to the human body. Garlic also belongs to such gifts of nature.
The ancient Greek healer Hippocrates prescribed it as a medicine for various diseases: viral infections, parasitic lesions, disorders of the gastrointestinal organs and others. Modern medicine also not only does not deny the beneficial qualities of a vegetable, but also confirms them with numerous studies. The plant is considered a natural antibiotic and helps fight many infections. But often the question arises before people: is garlic a vegetable or not? This should be dealt with in detail.
A bit of history
Before answering the question, garlic is a vegetable or not, it is worth a little talk about its appearance. The plant has been known to mankind for many thousands of years, at least not less than 5. Historians believe that garlic "came" from Ancient Egypt and was first used by the peoples living in the Indus Valley, and later by the ancient Chinese. The inhabitants of ancient India used it as an aphrodisiac, although it was not recognized by many because of the pungent odor.
In the Middle East, East Asia and Nepal, garlic was a cure for bronchitis, hypertension, tuberculosis, liver diseases, rheumatism and many other pathologies. The ancient Greeks used it as dope during the Olympic Games.
general characteristics
Garlic is a herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Onion Amaryllis family. Previously, the culture belonged to the independent Onion family, which has been abolished today. It follows from the botanical description that garlic is a vegetable, and there can be no other answers to the main question of the article.
Vegetable or fruit?
Sometimes an ambiguous question arises: is garlic a vegetable or a fruit? If you approach the explanation formally, then fruits are the fruits of a tree or shrub that are eaten. The seeds are stored in them, with the help of which the plants reproduce. From this point of view, cucumbers, eggplant and peas will refer to fruits.
Vegetables are an edible part of a herbaceous plant. They can be leaves (celery), roots (carrots), bulbs (onions) or flowers (broccoli). The difference from fruit is that the latter are separated from the plant over time, so that the seeds can germinate. But this does not happen with vegetables.
If you answer the question, garlic is a vegetable or not, from the point of view of botany, the plant will be a vegetable.
Or maybe a root vegetable?
Some ask a reasonable question: is garlic a vegetable or root vegetable? We continue to argue further. In turn, vegetables are divided into several groups:
- tubers (potatoes, sweet potato);
- root crops (beets, radish, carrots);
- cabbage (various types of cabbage);
- salad (salad);
- spicy (dill, tarragon);
- onion (onion, garlic);
- nightshade (tomato, eggplant);
- melons (zucchini, cucumber);
- legumes (peas, lentils);
- cereals (corn);
- dessert (asparagus, artichoke).
So, according to the presented classification, onions and garlic are vegetables belonging to the onion group, but they are not root crops. From a scientific point of view, the bulb is a multilayer underground shoot, and the root crop is a powerful thickening of the underground organs of the plant, and the botanists do not consider this part to be a fruit.
Interesting fact: garlic is a sweet vegetable. Yes, the sugar content in its juice is at least 20%, but it is impossible to taste this because of the burning substance of allicin - organic sulfoxide, which gives the plant that sharp taste that we feel. Allicin in garlic is formed from alliin in the process of mechanical destruction of cells.
Culture Description
Introducing garlic, its main characteristics should be called:
- narrow long foliage, elongated upwards;
- a false stem formed from leaves;
- when flowering, an arrow of 0.6-1.5 m is formed, twisting at the end;
- the arrow forms an umbrella hidden in the membranous membrane;
- simple flowers, white or light purple, six stamens;
- after flowering, a fruit with a small number of seeds is formed;
- the onion consists of 2-50 “little cloves” covered with dense scales; they are rounded in shape, white, yellowish, purple.
Garlic can be shooter or non-shooter, as well as spring and winter.
Product benefits
Having figured out whether garlic is a vegetable or not, it is also worth finding out how useful the plant is for humans. So, the positive points from the use of culture:
- digestive organs are activated;
- level of dangerous cholesterol decreases;
- blood clots do not form, and existing ones dissolve;
- pathogens are destroyed;
- acts as an antioxidant;
- increases the body's immune forces;
- favorably affects the cardiovascular system;
- increases potency;
- dilutes blood fluid;
- relieves menopause.
All these qualities are provided thanks to the valuable composition of garlic. The vegetable contains B and C vitamins, mineral components: potassium, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, manganese and others.
Is there any harm?
Yes, unfortunately, there is a negative effect on the body. Garlic can increase pressure and cause heartburn. Doctors prohibit taking it with:
- kidney disease
- pathologies of the liver;
- gallstone disease;
- anemia
- gastritis, ulcer, pancreatitis;
- hemorrhoidal cones;
- epilepsy;
- overweight.
Reasons for popularity
The culture gained universal popular love around the world thanks to the sharp taste and characteristic smell associated with the presence of a sulfide group in the composition of organic substances.
In medicine, garlic is used because of the known antiseptic properties. Cooking uses it as a spicy seasoning, and not only the underground parts are involved, but also the leaves, and arrows, and peduncles of young plants. The product is especially popular in eastern countries, as well as in Africa and on the tables of the Mediterranean. The well-known aioli sauce is made from garlic, olive oil and egg yolk; in Catalonia, a pear is also added.
For eating, dried garlic is taken in ground form, in cereal, in flour. Fresh or canned it is put in pickles, sausages, etc.
It is also interesting to know that Koreans, Chinese, and Italians eat at least 8 cloves of garlic per day.