Garlic and Other Alliums: The Lore and the Science - Hardcover

Block, Eric

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0854041907 ISBN 13: 9780854041909

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2009

Synopsis

'This is a fascinating book written by an authority on the chemistry of the edible alliums, which include garlic, onions, leeks and chives. The book is well written and up-to-date. I can thoroughly recommend this book not just to natural product chemists but also to all those who have grown these plants in the garden or enjoyed eating them. It contains many anecdotes and quotations to enliven a chemist's dinner party.' (Chemistry World, February 2010)

'What do garlic and onions have in common with gunpowder? A lot. They’re incendiary. They can do harm and they delight. Sulfur is central to their powers. And they helped inspire the work of a chemist who has just published a welcome treatise on the smelly yet indispensable allium family. Dr. Block’s book may be the definitive word on the alliums for the moment, but as it and he make clear, there are new flavors to look forward to.' (The New York Times, 7 June 2010)

'This book by Eric Block is a synthesis of his four decades of distinguished work with alliums. His account of this ever-increasing knowledge is accessible and will even entertain readers without a deep knowledge of chemistry. Block may look at the world through garlic-tinged lenses, but in this book he is very good at getting readers to see it his way.' (Chemistry & Industry, 8 February 2010)

This unique book, with a foreword by 1990 Nobel Laureate E.J. Corey, outlines the extensive history and the fascinating past and present uses of these plants, sorting out fact from fiction based upon detailed scrutiny of historic documents as well as numerous laboratories studies. Readers will be entertained and educated as they learn about early cultivation of garlic and other alliums while being introduced to the chemistry and biochemistry. They will learn how alliums have been portrayed and used in literature, poetry, the arts and how alliums are featured in the world's oldest cookbook. Technical material is presented in a manner understandable to a general audience, particularly through the use of illustrations to simplify more difficult concepts and explain how experimental work is conducted. The book is heavily illustrated with examples of alliums in art, literature, agriculture, medicine and other areas and includes rare botanical drawings of many members of the genus Allium.

About this title

Book Description

This unique book, with a foreword by 1990 Nobel Laureate E.J. Corey, outlines the extensive history and the fascinating past and resent uses of these plants. The author has carefully sorted out fact from fiction based upon detailed scrutiny of historic documents as well as numerous laboratory studies. Readers will be entertained and educated as they learn about early cultivation of garlic and other alliums while being introduced to their remarkable chemistry and biochemistry, much of which prominently features the element sulfur. They will learn how alliums have been portrayed and used in literature, poetry and the arts and how alliums are featured in the world's oldest cookbook. Technical material is presented in a manner understandable to a general audience, particularly through the use of illustrations to simplify more difficult concepts and explain how experimental work is conducted. The book is heavily illustrated with examples of alliums in art, literature, agriculture, medicine and other areas of and includes rare botanical drawings of many members of the genus Allium. Fascinating reading for anyone with a general interest in science.

From the Back Cover

Garlic, onions, leeks, chives and other members of the genus Allium occupy a unique position both as edible plants and herbal medicines, appreciated since the dawn of civilization. Alliums have been featured through the ages in literature, where they are both praised and reviled, as well as in architecture and the decorative arts. Garlic pills are top-selling herbal supplements, while garlic-based products show considerable promise as environmentally friendly pesticides. The remarkable properties of the alliums can be understood based on the occurrence of a number of relatively simple sulfur-containing chemical compounds ingeniously packaged by nature in these plants. An appreciation for the novel way nature equips plants to survive and thrive by chemical means is described in the quotation from famed ethnobotanist Richard Schultes: "Plants live by their chemical wits.". This book helps the reader judge the accuracy of numerous claims regarding the health benefits of garlic. This unique book outlines the extensive history and the fascinating past and present uses of these plants, sorting out fact from fiction based upon detailed scrutiny of historic documents as well as numerous laboratories studies. Readers will be entertained and educated as they learn about early cultivation of garlic and other alliums while being introduced to their remarkable chemistry and biochemistry, much of which prominently features the element sulfur. They will learn how alliums have been portrayed and used in literature, poetry and the arts and how alliums are featured in the world's oldest cookbook. Technical material is presented in a manner understandable to a general audience, particularly through the use of illustrations to simplify more difficult concepts and explain how experimental work is conducted. The book is heavily illustrated with examples of alliums in art, literature, agriculture, medicine and other areas and includes rare botanical drawings of many members of the genus Allium. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in science, the book is written at a level accessible to experts and nonexperts alike. It has sufficient additional detail and references to satisfy both the general reader wanting to know more and the professional researcher in disciplines as diverse as archaeology, medicine, ecology, pharmacology, food and plant sciences, agriculture, and organic chemistry. Garlic and Other Alliums explains the remarkable role played by the ubiquitous element sulfur in nature, including the everyday chemistry that occurs in the kitchen and in the garden as well as the sophisticated sulfur chemistry that occurs in the laboratory.

Edition details

• Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0854041907
• ISBN 13: 9780854041909
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 474