The shortest innovative process for enhancing the S-allylcysteine content and antioxidant activity of black and golden garlic

• Published in: Scientific reports 2022-07, Vol.12 (1), p.11493-11493, Article 11493
• Main Authors: Pakakaew, Peeraporn, Phimolsiripol, Yuthana, Taesuwan, Siraphat, Kumphune, Sarawut, Klangpetch, Wannaporn, Utama-ang, Niramon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/45; 639/638; Allium sativum; Antioxidants; Calcium chloride; Dry weight; Garlic; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Relative humidity; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Vitamin E
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15635-3

Black garlic is a type of heat-treated garlic for which the traditional process is extremely simple yet time-consuming, taking more than one month. The purpose of this research was to reduce the processing time of black garlic while maintaining a high level of S-allylcysteine (SAC), a black garlic quality indicator. The fresh garlic was pre-treated with CaCl 2 and frozen before being further incubated at two different temperatures (60 and 80 °C) with a relative humidity of 65% and 80% RH. Results showed that sequential pre-treatment and incubation at 80 °C and 80% RH for 1 week yielded 874.26 mg of SAC/100 g dry weight with an antioxidant activity of 5390 and 25,421 mg Trolox/100 g for DPPH and ABTS assays, respectively. This process shortened the processing time of black garlic by about 4-times. The batch processed at 60 °C and 65% RH for 1 week provided the highest SAC content of about 1772 mg/100 g dry weight, which was 2-times higher than in incubation at 80 °C and 80% RH for 1 week. The colour of this garlic was golden, so we call this new processed garlic product “golden garlic”.