The Uses for Elephant Garlic

Despite its name --- and the fact that it looks and smells like garlic ---- elephant garlic is a relative of the leek, which is an onion. Elephant garlic is still a good way to add flavor to your dishes. Though not well studied, it also has potential health benefits.

Raw

Elephant garlic tastes somewhat like garlic, but is much milder. That makes it more palatable than true garlic for raw dishes. Use it as you would other raw vegetables. Elephant garlic is good sliced and used in salads or sandwiches, for example.

Cooked

When cooking, use elephant garlic in dishes in which you desire a mild garlic flavor rather than a pungent one, advises Victoria Renoux, author of "For the Love of Garlic." Renoux notes that you may like to use elephant garlic because it's easier to slice than true garlic due to its size. Be careful grilling or sautéing elephant garlic, however, because it burns more easily than real garlic, which will make it bitter.

Medicinal Potential

Few studies have been done on elephant garlic's medicinal uses, note Arthur O. Tucker and Thomas DeBaggio, authors of "The Encyclopedia of Herbs." One 2003 study on mice published in the "Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health" found that the volatile oil from elephant garlic may help protect against trichothecene mycotoxin. Trichothecene mycotoxin is a toxin that occurs naturally and is produced by fungi. Symptoms of trichothecene mycotoxin poisoning can range from severe itching to weakness, shock and death.

Considerations

While elephant garlic itself is not well studied, onions in general are noted for their antioxidant capacity thanks to sulfur-containing compounds such as allicin and flavonoids like quercertin. Leeks, to which elephant garlic is cousin, are high in the flavonoid kaempferol. Kaempferol may have anticancer properties, but more research is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn, according to a 2008 study published in the "Journal of Surgical Research." Also, kaempferol is found in the highest concentrations in plant leaves as opposed to roots, note the authors of a 2001 study published in the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry."

References

• "For the Love of Garlic"; Victoria Renoux; 2005
• "The Encyclopedia of Herbs"; Arthur O. Tucker and Thomas DeBaggio; 2009
• "Onions and Other Vegetable Alliums"; James L. Brewster; 2008
• "Southeast Asian Journal of Tropical Medicine and Public Health": Effects of elephant garlic volatile oil (Allium ampeloprasum) and T-2 toxin on murine skin; S. Nguansangiam et al.; 2003
• "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry"; Flavonoid (myricetin, quercetin, kaempferol, luteolin, and apigenin) content of edible tropical plants; K.H.Miean and S. Mohamed; 2001
• "Journal of Surgical Research"; Ginkgo biloba extract kaempferol inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells; Y. Zhang et al.; 2008