Garlic: A Taste for Health :: Botany

Garlic: A Taste for Health Culinary garlic is one of the most medically studied herbs today. it has been cultivated since the Neolithic period around 10,000 BC. This bulb has flavored the food of hunters and nomads after the discovery of its intensively robust flavor. The summarians (2600 BC-2100 BC) were actively practicing the healing powers of garlic, and some believe the summarians to have introduced garlic to China, from where it later spread to Japan and Korea. However, some taxonomists believe garlic to be endemic to China. Records have indicated that the medicinal respect for garlic was not fully appreciated in regions of India, China, as well as in southern Europe. The summarians had been using garlic for some time before others caught on to its medicinal success. Many cultures have remedied various ailments with this potent herb. The Egyptians, documented on a papyrus dating back to 1500 BC, prescribed garlic for 22 diseases (1). And according to the 5th century Greek historian Herodotus, the Egyptians had carved an inscription into the great pyramid of King Khufu (Cheops) detailing the amount of garlic, onions, and radishes eaten by the slaves during the twenty-year building period. Egyptians slaves caused the first ever-recorded strike when a ration of garlic did not turn up on time (1). The slaves ate garlic to increase their stamina and to maintain their over-all health. Cloves of garlic have been found in the tomb of Tutankamen who ruled Egypt until 1338 BC. And the Egyptians were not the only ones to worship garlic. According to Theophrastus, ancient Greeks offered garlic on piles of stones at crossroads as a supper for Hecate, god of the underworld. The Bible has even mentioned the Israelites, delivered out of bondage by Moses, complaining of their food and wishing for the same things they had been eating while they were slaves: "Oh, that we had some of the delicious fish we enjoyed so much in Egypt, and the wonderful cucumbers and melons, leeks, onions, and garlic!" (Numbers 11:5, The Living Bible; 2). This pungent herb is also mentioned in the literature of other great kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome (2). Garlic can be found medically prescribed in ancient texts as far back as 1550 BC (1). Garlic was always an ingredient in potions thought to cure external and internal disease (1). The ancient Greeks and Romans used the herb from anything like repelling scorpions to curing bladder infections.