Six essential oils (EOs) from the Alliaceae family, namely garlic (Allium sativum), onion (Allium cepa), leek (Allium porrum), Chinese chive (Allium tuberosum), shallot (Allium ascalonicum) and chive (Allium schoenoprasum) were characterized by GC and GC-MS and evaluated for their functional food properties. Antibacterial properties were tested on five food-borne pathogens: Two Gram-positive St...

Extracts of some spices have been reported to play a contributory role in enhancing immune function. We evaluated and compared the effect(s) of single and combined oral administration of fresh aqueous onion (Allium cepa) and garlic (Allium sativum) extracts at different concentrations on some immunological determinants in rats. CD₄ cells of the rats were estimated using Partec flow cytometric t...

OBJECTIVE Antioxidant potential has protective effects in diabetic neuropathy (DN); hence, the present study was designed with an objective to quantify quercetin from shade-dried leaves of Allium cepa Lam. and to study its effects on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced chronic DN. MATERIALS AND METHODS The shade-dried leaves of A. cepa Lam. were extracted with methanol and then fractionated using et...

Introduction: It has been reported that garlic (Allium sativum) and onion (Allium cepa) are used all over the world in different diseases, such as infections, injuries, gastrointestinal dysfunctions and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, our aim in this work was to study the ability of garlic and onion oils to offset the infectivity as well as the metabolic disturbances induced by Schistosoma ...

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. The management of the blood glucose level is a critical strategy in the control of diabetes complications. Inhibitors of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes have been useful as oral hypoglycemic drugs for the control of hyperglycemia especially in patients with type II disables mellitus. The goal of the present study...

This review outlines the potential for developing a reliable transformation system for onions (Allium cepa). A summary of the onion tissue culture literature is presented along with descriptions of the gene transfer systems available. The most suitable regulatory sequences and selective genes that could be used for onion transformation are described, together with the problems which may be enco...

Solange Bosio Tedesco1,2 and Haywood Dail Laughinghouse IV3,4 1Graduate Program in Agrobiology, Department of Biology Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria 2Graduate Program in Agronomy, UFSM, Santa Maria 3National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 4College of Computer, Mathematical & Natural Sciences University of Maryland, College Park, MD 1,...

The genus Allium is a rich source of steroidal saponins, and its medicinal properties have been attributed to these bioactive compounds. The saponin compounds with diverse structures play a pivotal role in Allium's defense mechanism. Despite numerous studies on the occurrence and chemical structure of steroidal saponins, their biosynthetic pathway in Allium species is poorly understood. The mon...

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. The management of the blood glucose level is a critical strategy in the control of diabetes complications. Inhibitors of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes have been useful as oral hypoglycemic drugs for the control of hyperglycemia especially in patients with type II disables mellitus. The goal of the present study...

As in many other crop species, also in Allium crops genetic erosion is taking place. In this mini review the current global state of the art is presented on Allium ex situ genetic resources and more in particular on onion genetic resources. Furthermore future possible actions are indicated to preserve the Allium genepool in a more effective way, amongst which a proposal to develop an Allium gen...