Sumerians, Chinese, ancient Indians, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Tibetans, Slavic, Arabic and the list goes on and on naming hundreds of cultures that used garlic not only for its known culinary properties but for its health benefits and as a well-trusted universal folk remedy for the treatment of various illnesses and ailments. Some cultures still know garlic as ‘Russian penicillin’, ‘natural antibiotic’, ‘vegetable viagra’, ‘plant talisman’, ‘rustic's theriac’ and ‘snake grass’ [5,6].

In the past, garlic was used as a folk remedy during various epidemics such as typhus, dysentery, cholera, influenza, and whenever an epidemic has emerged. Garlic has been the first preventive and curative remedy [5,6]. Now, back to the subject, who didn't heard about the saying that onions and garlic collect and kill the flu (influenza) virus spread since its origins time ago in the 1919? I found it interesting enough to enter a little bit deeper and see if there were probably other reasons to believe garlic and onions really got this claimed anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. But let's see what we found about Garlic (Allium sativum) and onion (Allium cepa), it may surprise some of us at the end. Image: Red onions & garlic by Anna Majkowska under Creative Common license (CC BY 2.0).

ALLIUM SATIVUM

Family: Amaryllidaceae
Genus: Allium
Common name: Garlic.

Flavonoids are polyphenol antioxidants that can be found in plants, herbs and other aliments. They have been documented as cancer preventive agents and are very useful active constituents of herbs and plants responsible for many of the beneficial properties exerted by those ones, as for example their anti-aging effect (Ginkgo biloba, Calendula...etc.) and their free radical scavenging action (antioxidant), preventing cancer occurrence...etc.

Flavonoids also exert antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties, being also able to decrease capillary fragility [3], but what is more important, a study by Susan Steck of the Arnol School of Public Health shows that they can have an even more important function as Flavonoids may lower the risk of highly aggressive prostate cancer occurrence. Image: Fruit at North Market in Columbus, OH. by Lisa Sinclair under Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Zanthoxylum piperitum (Rutaceae), also known as Szechuan (Sichuan) pepper, is an aromatic spiny shrub [1] commonly known as the Japanese pepper that has been used as a spice and a natural medicine in Japan [18]. The pulverized mature fruits of Japanese pepper are used as the standard spice for sprinkling on the broiled eel dish [1]. The essential oils of green and ripe fruits and dried pericarp of the Japanese pepper, are also commonly used in Japanese dishes as spices [24]. Image: Sichuan pepper by rduta under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0).

Other uses of Japanese pepper include the utilization of Sanshools, the major active constituent of Zanthoxylum piperitum, as food additives in East Asia. Sanshools cause irritant, tingling and sometimes paresthetic sensations on the tongue [14].

ZANTHOXYLUM PIPERITUM

Family: Rutaceae
Genus: Zanthoxylum
Common name: Japanese pepper, Sichuan pepper, Japanese pepper tree, Szechwan pepper, Japanese pricklyash.

Several are the factors for which male population suffer from Erectile dysfunction (ED), among some of them we can cite obesity, stress, hormonal levels, diabetes mellitus, smoking, hypercholesterolaemia, hypertension, oxidative stress...etc. This last one, Oxidative stress has been demonstrated to have a direct link with the occurrence of erectile dysfunction [1].

Recent studies on the subject suggest that there is a direct link between dietary intake of antioxidant and a lower incidence of erectile dysfunction.

FRAGARIA ANANASSA

Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Fragaria
Common name: Strawberry