Allicin is the main biologically active component
of freshly crushed garlic (Allium sativum) cloves.
It is produced by the interaction of the non-protein
amino acid alliin with the enzyme alliinase. All of the
background research involving allicin has been done
on either garlic powder from different manufacturers
(Lawson et.al., 1991) or processing the garlic cloves
through many different chemicals in order to obtain
allicin. The instability of thiosulphinates leads to rapid
decomposition in the oven of a gas chromatograph,
even at moderate temperatures, and while indirect
quantitation has been reported, the methods suffer
from signifiant limitations.