Garlic
Botanical name: Allium sativum
Equipped with a high energy value and rich in vitamins and mineral salts, Garlic is also used in medicine for its particular therapeutic properties: antiseptic, digestive, diuretic, vermifuge and stimulant. It is also used as an adjuvant for the respiratory tract and in the treatment of arteriosclerosis, it lowers blood pressure, treats diarrhea and lowers blood glucose. Reproduction of Garlic: due to the insufficient photoperiod in temperate climates such as ours (Italy), it is not possible to obtain the seed; multiplication is therefore obtained by using the bulbs of the year (agamic reproduction).
Garlic: one of the most common garden bulbs
Garlic is a bulbous cultivated plant belonging to the Amaryllidaceae family. Its origin is thought to be Asian, traces having been found in both southwestern Siberia and ancient Egypt. To grow garlic bulbs in our garden and be able to have a good result, sowing must be carried out from January to March in northern Italy and from October to November in southern Italy.
For the transplant, last year's cloves are used, which are planted at a depth of 2 cm at a distance of 5 cm, with the tip pointing upwards. It is possible to find garlic seedlings in garden bulbs nurseries, to be transplanted directly into the ground. It is advisable not to sow them always in the same soil, but to create a rotation, to prevent the soil from becoming impoverished and for the reproduction of parasites.
Garlic is an excellent ally of the cardiovascular system, being an anticoagulant, because it has allicin, which counteracts platelet aggregation, that is the tendency of platelets to aggregate and form blood clots, also preventing the accumulation of bad cholesterol inside the blood vessels. The main use that is made of it is in the preparation of culinary dishes, mainly in sauces, and to give flavor to second courses (usually based on fish), but it is also used for therapeutic purposes, for the properties that come to it attributed by science.
The characteristic smell it emanates is due to its contents of organic sulfur compounds.
Garlic, as well as being appreciated in the kitchen, is widely used in medicine.
Popular beliefs indicate garlic capable of warding off devils, witches and vampires, in not so distant times ridges were placed behind the entrance door to prevent entry.