Garlic oil facts for kids
Garlic oil is a special kind of oil that comes from garlic. It's made from the parts of garlic that give garlic its strong smell and flavor. People use garlic oil in cooking, to add flavor to food, as a health supplement, and even to help protect plants from insects.
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How Garlic Oil is Made
Garlic oil is usually made using a process called steam distillation. This is like steaming crushed garlic. The steam collects the oil, and then it's cooled down to get the pure garlic oil.
Garlic oil has strong-smelling parts called sulfur compounds. One of these, called diallyl disulfide, makes up about 60% of the oil. Steam-distilled garlic oil usually has a very strong, brownish-yellow color. Its strong smell comes from the diallyl disulfide.
It takes a lot of garlic to make a little bit of pure garlic oil. For example, you need about 500 grams (about a pound) of garlic to get just 1 gram of pure oil! Undiluted garlic oil is super strong. It's 900 times stronger than fresh garlic and 200 times stronger than dried garlic.
Another way to get garlic oil is by using a chemical called ether. However, if you just soak chopped garlic in vegetable oil, that's not pure garlic oil. It's called garlic-infused oil, and it's different.
What Garlic Oil is Used For
Garlic oil is often sold as a nutritional supplement. You might find it in capsules, sometimes mixed with other ingredients. Some products have a small amount of garlic oil, like 10%.
Some people believe that garlic oil can help fight fungus and bacteria. However, there isn't enough scientific proof from studies to confirm these effects. It's also sold in health food stores to help with digestion.
Garlic oil can also be used as an insecticide. It can be mixed with water and sprayed on plants to keep bugs away.
There's also a special mix called "stabilized garlic flavor blend." This is dried garlic powder that has garlic oil added to it. This makes the garlic powder taste even stronger.
Things to Know About Garlic Oil
Eating garlic, garlic oil, or garlic supplements can sometimes cause a few side effects. These might include bad breath, body odor, stomach pain, feeling sick, or throwing up.
For some people, garlic oil might make their blood less likely to clot. This means they might bleed more easily. It can also sometimes affect how certain prescription drugs work, so it's good to be careful if you take medicines.
Garlic-Flavored Oil
Garlic-flavored oil is made and used for cooking and adding flavor to food. It's also sometimes an ingredient in seasoning mixes. This type of oil is different from the pure essential garlic oil. Garlic-flavored oil is usually made by putting chopped or crushed garlic into different kinds of vegetable oils to give the oil a garlic taste.
