Green garlic and methods of production
A new vegetable, referred to herein as green garlic, grown from garlic bulbils is disclosed. In particular examples, the green garlic is rich in one or more thiosulfinates. Methods of producing green garlic are also disclosed. In some examples, such methods permit year-round commercial production of green garlic.
1. A green garlic produced by a method, comprising:
growing a hardneck garlic bulbil; and
harvesting a plantlet from the bulbil, thereby producing green garlic, wherein the green garlic comprises at least 0.1 milligram of thiosulfinates per gram of green garlic, and wherein the thiosulfinates comprise thio-2-propene-1-sulfinic acid S-allyl ester (allicin) S-allyl cysteine sulphoxide (alliin), S-methyl cysteine sulphoxide (methiin), trans S-1-propenyl cysteine sulphoxide (isoalliin), S-propyl cysteine sulphoxide (propiin), or combinations thereof.
2. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises planting the hardneck garlic bulbil under conditions that result in germination of the bulbil prior to growing the bulbil.
3. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein harvesting comprises removing the bulbil from a growth media.
4. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein the hardneck garlic bulbil was exposed to conditions that terminated dormancy of the bulbil, prior to growing the bulbil.
5. The green garlic of claim 4 , wherein the conditions that terminated dormancy of the bulbil comprise exposure to a temperature of 4° C. for at least 20 days.
6. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein the bulbil is grown indoors.
7. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein the bulbil is grown in quantities sufficient for commercial production.
8. The green garlic of claim 7 , wherein commercial production of exceeds 100 pounds of green garlic annually.
9. The green garlic of claim 2 , wherein at least 0.1 acres of bulbils are planted.
10. The green garlic of claim 2 , wherein the bulbils are planted at a density of 1-7 million bulbils per acre.
11. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein the bulbil is an Allium sativum L. bulbil.
12. The green garlic of claim 11 , wherein the bulbil is an Allium sativum variety ‘ophioscorodon’ subvariety Music bulbil; Allium sativum variety ‘ophioscorodon’ subvariety Red Rezan bulbil; Allium sativum variety ‘ophioscorodon’ subvariety Georgia Crystal bulbil; Allium sativum variety ‘ophioscorodon’ subvariety German Red bulbil; or Allium sativum variety ‘ophioscorodon’ subvariety Roja bulbil.
13. The green garlic of claim 2 , wherein the green garlic is harvested from the bulbil at least 30 days after planting the bulbil.
14. A food product comprising the green garlic of claim 1 .
15. A crop comprising the green garlic of claim 1 .
16. A neutricutical comprising the green garlic of claim 1 , or an extract thereof.
17. The green garlic of claim 1 , further comprising packaging the green garlic after harvesting.
18. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein harvesting the plantlet from the bulbil comprises cutting the plantlet from the bulbil.
19. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein the bulbils are less than 3 mm in length.
20. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein the bulbils are 3-8.9 mm in length.
21. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein the bulbils are at least 9 mm in length.
22. A package or container comprising the green garlic of claim 1 .
23. The package or container of claim 22 , wherein the green garlic is of substantially a uniform size.
24. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises growing the hardneck garlic bulbil for 30-45 days.
25. The green garlic of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises growing the hardneck garlic bulbil for at least 30 days.
26. A green garlic produced by a method, comprising:
growing a hardneck garlic bulbil for 30-45 days; and
harvesting a plantlet from the bulbil, thereby producing green garlic, wherein the green garlic comprises at least 0.1 milligram of thiosulfinates per gram of green garlic.
27. A food product comprising the green garlic of claim 26 .