Onion (Allium cepa L.), garlic (Allium sativum L.) and other edible Allium are among the oldest cultivated plants, and are used for multiple purposes. They are a rich source of several phytonutrients, and recognized to have significant and wide biological activities. These biological activities are related to the thiosulfinates, volatile sulfur compounds which are responsible for the pungency o...

BACKGROUND There is growing interest in the use of plants for the treatment and prevention of cancer. Medicinal plants are currently being evaluated as source of promising anticancer agents. In this paper, we have investigated the anticancer potential of plant Allium wallichii, a plant native to Nepal and growing at elevations of 2300-4800 m. This is the first study of its kind for the plant me...

Selenium is an element that must be considered in the nutrition of certain crops since its use allows the obtaining of biofortified crops with a positive impact on human health. The objective of this review is to present the information on the use of Se and S in the cultivation of plants of the genus Allium. The main proposal is to use Allium as specialist plants for biofortification with Se an...

BACKGROUND Diabetes mellitus is a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by abnormalities of carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disease caused by destruction of pancreatic beta cells and characterized by defect in insulin secretion while type 2 diabetes mellitus results from abnormalities in insulin secretion and/or insulin action or bo...

Since L. Guignari's investigation (1884) various investigators have reported the studies on plants in the genus Allium of Liliaceae, as some species in this genus are cultivated and are noteworthy from the cytological point of view. According to T. Suto's papers (1936, 1936) on the phylogenetic discussion of Liliaceae and Amaryllidaceae, which show the fact that the idiogram type of the chromos...

Nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS and ETS) sequences from 39 native Californian (USA) Allium species and congeners were combined with 154 ITS sequences available on GenBank to develop a global Allium phylogeny with the simultaneous goals of investigating the evolutionary history (monophyly) of Allium in the Californian center of diversity and exploring patterns of adaptation to serpentine soils. Phylo...

Avian coccidiosis is the most costly and wide-spread parasitic disease in the poultry industry, and has been mainly controlled by the use of different chemotherapeutic agents. Due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains, alternative control strategies are needed. In this study, the protective effects of Allium sativum or Aloe vera aqueous extracts were investigated in broiler chickens follow...

OBJECTIVE Persian leek is one of the most widely used herbal foods among Iranians. In this study, effects of oral administration of Persian leek on plasma and liver lipids were examined in hamster. MATERIALS AND METHODS Male Syrian hamsters were randomly divided into three groups: control (standard diet), high fat control (high-fat/high-cholesterol diet), Persian leek (high-fat/high-cholester...

oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (ldl) has been strongly suggested as a key factor in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. thus, the inclusion of some anti-oxidant compounds in daily dietary food stuff may inhibit the production of oxidized ldl and may decrease both the development and the progression of atherosclerosis. the present work investigated the inhibitory effects of extract of all...