Abstract
The volatile organic sulfur compound allicin (diallyl thiosulfinate) is produced as a defense substance when garlic (Allium sativum) tissues are damaged, for example by the activities of pathogens or pests. Allicin gives crushed garlic its characteristic odor, is membrane permeable and readily taken up by exposed cells. It is a reactive thiol-trapping sulfur compound that S-thioallylates accessible cysteine residues in proteins and low molecular weight thiols including the cellular redox buffer glutathione (GSH) in eukaryotes and Gram-negative bacteria, as well as bacillithiol (BSH) in Gram-positive firmicutes. Allicin shows dose-dependent antimicrobial activity. At higher doses in eukaryotes allicin can induce apoptosis or necrosis, whereas lower, biocompatible amounts can modulate the activity of redox-sensitive proteins and affect cellular signaling. This review summarizes our current knowledge of how bacterial and eukaryotic cells are specifically affected by, and respond to, allicin.
Highlights
Garlic (Allium sativum) is an internationally appreciated culinary ingredient in many dishes and an economically important agricultural crop in several countries
Garlic releases volatile organic sulfurcontaining compounds (VOSCs) to defend itself against attacks by pathogens and pests and its antibacterial principle was identified as allicin by Cavallito in 1944 [1,2]
Unlike in a standard thiol-disulfide exchange reaction (TDER), the electrons end up in wa the newly formed disulfide bond can be reduced back to a thiol just like a other protein disulfide, for example by thioredoxins or glutaredoxins, or potentially ev when allicin reacts with GSH, is a substrate for glutathione reductase [34]
Summary
Garlic (Allium sativum) is an internationally appreciated culinary ingredient in many dishes and an economically important agricultural crop in several countries. The dynamic chemistry of the low molecular weight sulfur compoun in biological extracts makes their accurate quantitative and qualitative analysis diffic and the effects of heating are important This is often overlooked and i frequently met flaw in reports purporting to analyze the composition of Allium extracts of other VOSCs. For example, heating allicin or garlic, e.g., during cooking, leads to the chromatograp vapors by gas chromatography than, for example, by liquid production of polysulfanes and(GC). Unlike in a standard TDER, the electrons end up in wa the newly formed disulfide bond can be reduced back to a thiol just like a other protein disulfide, for example by thioredoxins or glutaredoxins, or potentially ev when allicin reacts with GSH, is a substrate for glutathione reductase [34]. The purpose of this review is to summarize recent progress in our knowledge of the cellular effects of allicin in bacteria and eukaryotes and builds on our earlier 2014 review [19]
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