History, evolution and domestication of garlic: a review

DHALL, R.J.; CAVAGNARO, P. F.; SINGH, H.; MANDAL, S.

PLANT SYSTEMATICS AND EVOLUTION

SPRINGER WIEN

Lugar: Viena; Año: 2023 vol. 309

0378-2697

The center of origin of garlic (Allium sativum L.) and its closest wild relative, Allium longicuspis, is considered Central Asia. Religious writings, historical records and ancient medical texts, especially from the Mediterranean and Asia, have repeatedly referenced and/or prescribed the use of garlic in health and disease. More recent studies have demonstrated that allicin and other garlic organosulfur compounds exhibit broad-spectrum antibacterial and antimycotic efects. Garlic has been classifed based on growth traits, morphology, presence/absence of fowering stalk, isozymes profles, molecular markers and ecophysiological characteristics. In a recent intrageneric classifcation of Allium based on nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences, garlic is typus species of genus, subgenus and section Allium, which includes 15 sections and around 300 species. Garlic is considered sterile and is mostly propagated asexually, but fertile wild garlic has been discovered and collected in its center of origin, in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Genetic and environmental factors afecting fertility and true seed production have been identifed and studied, and Bt-resistant transgenic lines have been developed. Herein, we reviewed and critically discussed garlic historic and current use, its taxonomic and informal classifcations,molecular mechanisms of garlic sterility, and progresses made toward unlocking sexual reproduction and its potential impact for garlic breeding and production.