Why does the “garlic smell” linger?

Garlic is a versatile seasoning and can be found in almost all of China's eight major cuisines.

As early as 5,000 years ago in ancient Egypt, garlic was already very popular. However, garlic was not used as a condiment at that time, but more as a medicine or sacrificial offering.

During the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian brought back garlic when he was on a diplomatic mission to the Western Regions, which opened up a new path for Chinese cuisine. However, he brought back garlic as well as the taste of garlic.

Yes, although food with garlic is delicious, the lingering garlic smell after eating is also a problem for many people.

For example, if you secretly go out to eat garlic crayfish by yourself, when you get home your girlfriend will know where you have been before you even open your mouth because you are surrounded by a smell of garlic.

Therefore, how to eat garlic without leaving a taste has become a stumbling block in everyone's pursuit of delicious food (to avoid girlfriends cheating on them).

To know how to remove the garlic smell, you must first understand where this "garlic smell" comes from so that you can prescribe the right remedy.

Generally speaking, fresh, intact garlic has almost no odor, but as soon as it is cut or crushed, it quickly emits a strong odor.

This unique smell comes from a series of volatile sulfur-containing compounds in its body, among which allicin is one of the main "culprits" producing the smell.

However, allicin is just a "tool man". The premise of its production is alliin . Alliin itself has no strange taste and no antibacterial activity, but after combining with alliinase contained in garlic, it can be converted into allicin.

In normal natural environment, alliin and alliinase of garlic are located in different parts of the cell, separated by the capsule. As long as the two do not come into contact, there will be no problem.

Unfortunately, garlic cannot be swallowed whole, so we process it when we eat it. At this time, the capsule that separates them is destroyed, and alliin is quickly converted into allicin under the catalysis of alliinase.

So the smell we smell comes from allicin...?

No, no, no, it is not allicin. Because allicin contains unstable disulfide bonds , its life span can be said to be "short-lived".

When exposed to light, heat or organic solvents, it is easily degraded into various sulfur-containing organic compounds , such as diallyl disulfide, diallyl monosulfide, trisulfide, methyl allyl sulfide (AMS) and other compounds. In other words, the odor we smell is actually a mixed gas of various sulfur-containing compounds.

Among these compounds, allyl methyl sulfide (AMS) is the most difficult to decompose . After entering the human body, it can neither be absorbed by the intestines nor metabolized by the liver . Moreover, it is a small molecule substance and has nowhere to go but to pass through the capillaries and enter the blood.

Once it enters the blood, things get bad. The AMS, which has boarded the blood circulation system, begins to spread wildly inside the human body and "gets off" everywhere.

For example, if it gets off at the kidneys, it will be excreted from the body along with the urine ; if it gets off at the lungs, it will be exhaled along with the carbon dioxide ; of course, any part of the body may be its get-off point, and then remain on the surface of the body along with the sweat, making the whole person surrounded by a faint garlic scent.

So the reason why the garlic taste lingers so long is because the taste does not come from the residual garlic paste in the mouth, but from the sulfur compounds in the body that are not digested by the internal organs. They flow through all parts of the body with the blood . Even if you brush your teeth, as long as your body is still digesting the garlic, the garlic taste will come back.

However, now that we have found the source of the garlic smell, AMS, we just need to find a way to deal with it. Through a number of comparative research tests, scientists have found that foods such as apples and mint have a relatively good ability to remove garlic smell.

The secret is that these substances all contain phenolic compounds , which is a surefire way to eliminate garlic smell. Phenolic compounds will combine with sulfides such as AMS to increase their molecular size. Without the properties of small molecules, AMS can no longer enter the blood circulation, and the smell will naturally disappear.

In addition, chewing some foods with high protein content such as peanut kernels, walnut kernels or almonds after a meal can allow the pungent element "propylene sulfide" in garlic to combine with protein and remove the garlic smell in your mouth.

Now you know what to bring when you go out to eat garlic crayfish behind your girlfriend’s back.