Proudly South African garlic growers meet

The South African Garlic Growers Association (Sagga) recently held their annual congress.

Some of the speakers were:

• A welcome address by Clive Garrit, the marketing manager of Bertie van Zyl (Edms) Bpk.

• “Our Living Soil” by Stephanus Malherbe, a senior researcher of ZZ2 laboratories.

• “Fertiliser requirements of garlic and the importance of balance between elements” by Peter Goede, a biological nutrient specialist of Profert (Pty) Ltd.

According to Sagga, South African garlic is simply the best.

Garlic is one of the most versatile and valuable foods on the planet, but where to find good, fresh garlic in South Africa may be a problem. Garlic on the shelves tastes like nothing and looks rubbery and yellow.

The answer is not simple, because many role-players are involved in the marketing and distribution of garlic in the country. The fact is that we produce too little garlic of the size and quantity needed by consumers in South Africa.

According to Sagga, they grow enough garlic in South Africa, but not all the grades are acceptable to some of their buyers – they want the best grades only, and of that they do not grow enough currently.

The international garlic trade is huge business, and Sagga imports good quality garlic in large volumes to sell, especially in the supermarkets. Unfortunately for the real garlic loving, health and value for money consumers, they are very often disappointed when they buy the nice looking bulb in the supermarket, expecting something special, and end up with a rubbery tasteless clove in their kitchens.

A few reasons contribute to the degrading in smell, taste, texture and general use of imported garlic. Long time in storage can contribute, artificial cooling to extend the shelf life of garlic contributes, but the main reason for the “dead” garlic, is the fact that all garlic imported into South Africa has to be irradiated before it is released from customs to be sold in the trade.

During the irradiation process almost all of the “good” qualities of garlic are lost. The taste and smell is almost gone. It is lifeless and is not supposed to germinate. It looks rubbery and irritates the heck out of any true garlic lover.

The active compound in garlic is the sulphur compound called allicin. Allicin is the chemical produced when garlic is chopped, chewed or bruised. Allicin is quite powerful as an antibiotic and a potent agent that helps the body to inhibit the ability of germs to grow and reproduce. Most of this is lost by the time the imported bulb lands on the tables of our consumers.

Few interesting facts about garlic:

• The smell of garlic can be removed by running your hands under cold water while rubbing a stainless steel object.

• Garlic helps strengthen your body’s defences against allergies, helps loosen plaque from artery walls, helps regulate your blood sugar levels, and is a good choice for killing and expelling parasites such as pin worms from the human body.

• If your rose garden is being attacked by aphids, an excellent home remedy is to use a mixture of crushed garlic in water and spray it on the leaves and blooms.

• The physiological term for fear of garlic is alliumphobia

• Drinking lemon juice or eating a few slices of lemon will stop bad garlic breath.

The South African Garlic Growers Association is a producers organisation, which represents the majority of garlic producers in South Africa. The main aims of the association are to uplift the quality and quantity of locally produced garlic countrywide. They strive to make consumers more aware of the different uses of garlic, and in so doing, stimulate the sales of garlic nationally. They have to protect the industry from unfair competition in the form of dumped products.