Characterisation of Allium sativum bulb and its component for high end applications

Abstract

This paper covers selective characterisation of garlic bulb, clove, and tunic based on phyico-chemical, nutritional, phytochemical, optical, electrical, structural, and antimicrobial characteristics of the selected promising variety, Haryana Garlic-17 (HG-17). Organosulphur and phenolic compounds are major phytochemicals attributed to have therapeutic effects. Five organosulphur and fourteen phenolic compounds were identified and qualified using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). These were identified to have antimicrobial capabilities against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Aspergillus niger. The antimicrobial characteristics of garlic extract further revealed its potential for antimicrobial and biomedical applications. The tunic or peel of garlic must be removed before its utilisation for edible purposes. Manual removal of the tunic is a cumbersome process. Therefore, the effect of sodium hydroxide (lye) as a chemical peeling agent on the characteristics of the tunic was further assessed. Treatment of tunics with lye solution improved the recovery of cellulose and hemicelluloses. The prepared garlic peel powder was found to have least one dimension in the nano range, confirmed through Field Emission-Scanning Electron Microscopic. The electrical characterisation of garlic pulp reflected a positive for ohmic heating. On the other hand, treated garlic peel behaved as a potential candidate to be used in the fabrication of paper capacitors as having the capacitance peak found to a maximum near 50Hz frequency.