Determination and Estimation of Allicin in Allium sativum

BACKGROUND Nature has provided us with many medicinal plants that can be utilized in therapeutic industry and as medications. Since ancient times, mankind has used plants to treat common diseases and some of these traditional medicines have been with us ever since. Garlic (Allium sativum) a herbal spice easily available in our kitchen, is useful in cardiovascular diseases, regulating blood pressure, lowering blood sugar, maintaining cholesterol levels and fighting against some cancers and oxidative distress. Analysis of the pharmacological activity of garlic extracts may therefore make possible the design of less expensive therapies to be used in economically under privileged regions. Moreover, Allicin has been shown to possess biological properties such as antitumor and antioxidant effects. Therefore, there is an increased necessity of research on garlic. METHODS Materials used included garlic from local market, cheesecloth, grinder, test tubes and high-performance liquid chromatography. Garlic was collected and garlic extract was prepared using cheesecloth. It was prepared by grinding and then extracting the garlic sample. Introductory phytochemical panelling was performed to recognize the chemical parts. Garlic mainly consists of sulphur components, so two sulphur tests were done, including lead acetate test and sodium nitroprusside test. Allicin was estimated using high performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS Preliminary tests confirmed the presence of sulphur compounds & HighPerformance Liquid Chromatography results showed retention time of standard garlic solution similar to the extract used that is 3.011 minutes / mL, hence confirming the presence of allicin. Quantitative estimation showed allicin to be 81.37 % in the extract made. CONCLUSIONS With the help of two biochemical tests and chromatography, we conclude that garlic has sulphur and allicin.