Effectiveness of garlic on the radical activity in radical generating systems

The radical scavenging capacity of garlic (allium sativum) has been investigated in vitro in radical generating systems by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and low-level chemiluminescence measurements. Garlic (both the homogenate of 10% in physiological saline solution and its supernatant) was able to reduce the radicals generated by the Fenton reaction and trapped by phenyl-butyl-nitron for EPR measurements. Also radicals present in cigarette smoke could be reduced by garlic as judged from chemiluminescence in the presence of tert.-butyl-hydroperoxide. According to the in vitro measurements garlic contains substances which have significant radical scavenging capacity.