Title:Garlic (Allium sativum L.): Its Chemistry, Nutritional Composition, Toxicity,
and Anticancer Properties
Volume: 22
Issue: 11
Author(s): Abdur Rauf, Tareq Abu-Izneid, Muthu Thiruvengadam*, Muhammad Imran, Ahmed Olatunde, Mohammad Ali Shariati, Saud Bawazeer, Saima Naz, Samira Shirooie, Ana Sanches-Silva, Umar Farooq and Galiya Kazhybayeva
Affiliation:
- Department of Crop Science, College of
Sanghuh Life Science, Konkuk University, Seoul, 05029, South Korea
Keywords:
Garlic, Diallyl disulfide, Allicin, Cancer, Antineoplastic action, Toxicity.
Abstract: The current review discuss the chemistry, nutritional composition, toxicity, and biological
functions of garlic and its bioactive compounds against various types of cancers via different anticancer
mechanisms. Several scientific documents were found in reliable literature and searched in
databases viz Science Direct, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Research Gate were carried
out using keywords such as “garlic”, “garlic bioactive compounds”, “anticancer mechanisms of garlic”,
“nutritional composition of garlic”, and others. Garlic contains several phytoconstituents with
activities against cancer, and compounds such as diallyl trisulfide (DATS), allicin, and diallyl disulfide
(DADS), diallyl sulfide (DAS), and allyl mercaptan (AM). The influence of numerous garlic-
derived products, phytochemicals, and nanoformulations on the liver, oral, prostate, breast, gastric,
colorectal, skin, and pancreatic cancers has been studied. Based on our search, the bioactive
molecules in garlic were found to inhibit the various phases of cancer. Moreover, the compounds
in this plant also abrogate the peroxidation of lipids, activity of nitric oxide synthase, epidermal
growth factor (EGF) receptor, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), protein kinase C, and regulate cell
cycle and survival signaling cascades. Hence, garlic and its bioactive molecules exhibit the aforementioned
mechanistic actions, and thus, they could be used to inhibit the induction, development,
and progression of cancer. The review describes the nutritional composition of garlic, its bioactive
molecules, and nanoformulations against various types of cancers, as well as the potential for developing
these agents as antitumor drugs.