IDENTIFICATION AND QUANTIFICATION OF ORGANOSULFUR COMPLIANCE MARKERS IN A GARLIC EXTRACT

Marker compounds are needed to determine dietary compliance m free-living human study populations participating in dietary intervention trials for cancer research. Nine organosulfur marker compounds were detected and identified in an aged garlic extract. A convenient method that involves solvent extraction and gas chromatograph/mass spectrometric analysis was developed to quantify the organosulfur compounds in the garlic extract. Although garlic extract proved to be unstable and the concentration of the organosulfur compounds varied with time, one analysis of the extract gave the following results: methyl disulfide (0.607 mug/g), methyl trisulfide (0.181 mug/g), allyl sulfide (2.02 mug/g), allyl disulfide (0.784 mug/g), allyl trisulfide (0.795 mug/g), allyl methyl sulfide (1.64 mug/g), allyl methyl disulfide (0.411 mug/g), allyl methyl trisulfide (0.695 mug/g), and ethyl 2-propenesulfinate (11.4 mug/g).