review · Food Chemistry
While the medicinal properties of garlic are widely recognised through its phytochemical constituents, its bioactive proteins and peptides have received far less scientific attention. Recent advances in food proteomics and peptide research enable a clearer assessment of their extraction, characteristics, and therapeutic potential. Garlic expresses various proteins alongside endogenous and derived peptides with demonstrated biological effects, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-hypertensive, and immunomodulatory activities. These findings suggest valuable pharmacological possibilities. However, practical utilisation is constrained by the inherently low protein content of garlic bulbs and poor peptide stability, particularly when compared to protein-rich sources such as legumes. To address these constraints, the adoption of heterologous expression systems offers a viable route to overproduce target peptides and enhance their molecular stability for prospective health interventions.
Beyond familiar dietary uses and well-known phytochemicals, garlic harbours specialized protein fragments capable of interacting with human biological systems. Exploring these molecules could help uncover new ways to address bacterial infections, viral threats, and chronic inflammation, broadening the natural product toolkit available to nutritional science and medicine.
Potential applications lie in therapeutic, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical development for users targeting hypertension, immune modulation, or infectious disease. The research remains at an early exploratory stage. Real-world commercial translation is currently distant because natural yields are low and molecules lack stability, indicating that industrial partners would first need to validate heterologous production systems to make manufacturing viable.
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Garlic is a popular food spice with diverse and well-established medicinal properties. Many research interests have been directed toward the biological activities of the phytochemical constituents of garlic. However, prospects of its bioactive proteins and peptides have been understudied to date. With the advances in food proteomics/peptide research, a review of studies on garlic bioactive proteins and peptides, especially on their nature, extraction, and biological activities, is timely. Garlic has been reported to express several proteins, endogenous and protein-derived peptides with interesting bioactivities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-proliferative, antiviral, anti-hypertensive and immunomodulatory activities, suggesting their therapeutic and pharmacological potentials. Compared to legumes, the low protein contents of garlic bulbs and their low stability are possible limitations that would hinder future applications. We suggest adopting heterologous expression systems for peptide overproduction and stability enhancement. Therefore, we recommend increased scientific interest in the bioactive peptides of garlic and other spice plants.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137632
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