GarlicGarlic has been used for thousands of years as a food additive and medicine in China (Han 1993). The name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, derives from gar (spear) and lac (plant), in reference to the shape of its leaves. It belongs to the Liliaceae family and the Allium genus, which has more than 600 species available. Included in this family are onions, scallions, leeks, Japanese onions, Chinese and common chives. Mostly all Allium crops originate from the main center of Allium diversity which extends from the Mediterranean basin to Central Asia (Meer et al. 1997. 1997). Garlic has a long history of use throughout Europe too, being used as a food additive and for various medicinal purposes, and has often been mentioned in folklore. There is a Mohammedan legend which states: "When Satan left the Garden of Eden after the fall of man, garlic sprang from where he placed his left foot, and onion from where he touched his right foot." In some parts of Europe, there is a superstition that if a man running a race chews a piece of the bulb, it will prevent his competitors from overtaking him (Grieve 1995). However, garlic is very important in many cultures for their cuisine. . What would Chinese or Italian food be without garlic? And its long history of medicinal uses is now supported by numerous studies demonstrating its antibacterial and healing powers. Center of Origin of Garlic Garlic is believed to have originated in western China, from the Tien Shan mountains to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Vvedenskv proposed that garlic evolved from the wild species Allium longicuspus (Etoh and Pank 1996, Al-Zahim et al. 1997). The spread of garlic probably occurred first in the Old World and...... at the center of the studies...... in China. Preventive Medicine 22:712-722. Mayo Clinic. 1999. Garlic. mayohealth.org/mayo/9802/htm/garlic.htm.Meer, Q.P., J.L. Botha, and C.R. Galmarini. 1997. Old and new crops in edible Allium. Proceedings of the first international symposium on edible Alliaceae. Acta Hortic, 433:17-31. Orlowski, M., E. Rekowska and R. Dobromilska. 1994. The effect on garlic (Allium sativum L) yield of autumn and spring planting using different stem trimming methods, Folia Hortic. 6:79-89.Pooler, M.R., and P.W. Simon. 1993. Characterization and classification of isoenzyme and morphological variation in a diverse collection of garlic clones. Euphytica 68: 121 130. Seno, S., GG Saliba, F. J. de Paula and P. S. Koga. 1995. Use of phosphorus and manure in garlic cultivation. Horticulture Brasileira 13:196-199.