Taken separately, garlic and mushrooms are gastronomic oddballs, the blandness of the latter contrasting with the overwhelming potency of the former. Blended together they have a workable partnership, given a generous splash of spice and plenty of butter. At some point they got together, as a novel way of serving mushrooms in the 60s and 70s, before which they were mere ingredients in a dish. Now there are dozens of ways of creating a tasty recipe to challenge the taste buds, but what is the botanical background to the components?
Garlic to Die For
The Romans introduced garlic from Italy to Britain during their occupation of the UK. Centurions used to wedge fresh cloves between their toes to improve foot hygiene and prevent athlete's foot caused by the fungus Trichophyton interdigitale which is, incidentally, related botanically to the mushroom.
The medicinal properties of garlic are well documented, chief among which are its anti-thrombotic, lipid lowering, anti-tumour and anti-microbial effects (1). Research into anti-mutagenic properties and cancer prevention shows good results in the area of gastro-intestinal tumours (2). Its other clinical benefits are less convincing in terms of statistical rigour, but its ability to lower cholesterol levels deserves further investigation, with at least one review showing a positive correlation over and above a placebo effect (3).
The efficacy of garlic as a herbal medicine depends on its active ingredient alliin, which is converted to the characteristically pungent allicin when the cloves are crushed. Recommended daily dosages from suitably qualified practitioners are 5g of the fresh bulb, 8mg of the essential oil or 1200mg of the dried powder. The odour associated with the garlic is one side effect, and odourless preparations are available, but these may not be effective without allicin as the active ingredient (1).
There are more than 23 chemical ingredients in the essential oil extracted from garlic, including high concentrations of sulphur found in the amino acids cysteine and methionine, which may account for its weak antiseptic and antifungal properties. As with other herbal preparations, the total effect may be greater than the sum of the parts and the isolation and testing of individual chemical components by pharmaceutical companies may prove fruitless until we understand more about the pharmacology of plant based metabolites. This can't erase thousands of years of folklore associated with the medical use of garlic from the textbooks any more than it can neutralise the overpowering aroma from a walk through damp woodland containing bulbs of Allium sativum - derived from the sandals of Roman soldiers.
Mushrooms for Life
Mushrooms are nutritionally bland compared to garlic, but do contain generous quantities of minerals from the soil, significant amounts of the B vitamins, folic acid, vitamin C and fibre, together with a high water content (65%). Use them in a decent recipe and this all changes...
Hidden deeper within all members of the fungal kingdom is a reminder of how early plants may have evolved by using extracellular enzymes to dissolve away their nearest food source before absorbing the soluble nutrients directly through their unique cell wall system or mycelium (4).
Modern plants, including garlic have individual cells fastened together in a true multicellular body, complete with chlorophyll which uses sunlight to produce sugars from carbon dioxide and soil water. Nevertheless, without fungi and bacteria, nothing in the soil would rot away and then feed the carbon and nitrogen cycles essential for life at both microscopic and macroscopic levels. Nature had mushrooms and garlic paired off long before the cookery books discovered them.
References
- Fetrow C.W. & Avila J. R. (1999) Professional's Handbook of Complementary & Alternative Medicines. Springhouse.
- Ernst E. Pittler M. Wider B. & Boddy K. (2008) Oxford Handbook of Complementary Medicine. Oxford University Press.
- Steinkopff (2002) Hypercholesterolamia Review. Phytopharmica VII. Darmstadt.
- Simon E. Dormer K. Hartshorne J. Edit. (1971) Lowson's Textbook of Botany. University Tutorial Press
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