Technological, process and product innovation in the production of freeze-dried preparations from pickled garlic and black garlic with health-promoting properties

Garlic is one of the healthiest vegetables in the human diet and its healing and preventive properties have been known since ancient times. The main active ingredient of garlic is allicin - an active volatile sulfur compound with an intense taste and smell and strong antimicrobial effect. This process occurs particularly quickly when the garlic tissue is mechanically damaged, resulting in the release of the enzyme.

• Garlic is used in the form of fresh bulbs as well as in the form of powders obtained by drying, usually or by freeze drying.
• Garlic pickled in vinegar is also known.
• Capsules with oil extracts of garlic are used in pharmacy.
• Pickling is an interesting and rarely used way of preserving and processing this vegetable from a nutritional point of view. This is a traditional method of food preservation, used for centuries, which is becoming increasingly popular as a natural, energy-saving and enriching diet with health-promoting lactic acid bacteria, including those with probiotic properties. Pickled garlic has a milder taste than raw garlic because irritating volatile sulfur compounds are not formed in an acidic environment.
• Recently, black garlic has become very popular, obtained using a traditional aging method developed in China, which involves keeping garlic bulbs for several weeks at an elevated temperature and appropriate humidity.

As a result of the reaction of sugars and amino acids present in garlic, the so-called Maillard compounds, as a result of which the garlic darkens and acquires a mild, sweet taste.

The aim of the operation is to develop and implement into the production of freeze-dried preparations from garlic (Allium sativum L.) subjected to lactic fermentation (pickled garlic) and aging in controlled conditions (black garlic). As a result of the operation, a technological line will be created for the production of dry garlic preparations, combining the health-promoting properties of garlic, the presence of lactic acid bacteria (pickled garlic) and with unique nutritional and sensory properties (black garlic).

Starting the production of the above-mentioned preparations requires designing a technological line and parameters of the new product manufacturing process based on the research and development work carried out.

Project activities

The innovation in the planned operation are two products: freeze-dried garlic subjected to lactic fermentation (pickled) and freeze-dried garlic subjected to the aging process (black). These innovations will be possible to achieve thanks to process innovations developed in cooperation with IBPRS-PIB, which will be developed within 4 stages carried out as part of research and development works.

• The first task concerns the isolation of lactic acid bacteria strains from the natural environment, lactic acid bacteria will be characterized by species and in terms of biochemical and physiological features necessary to pickle garlic in industrial conditions and with potentially pro-biotic features.
• As part of the planned operation, technologically useful strains will be isolated, which will be described with a specific number and symbol. The planned research will concern the preparation of one or two mixtures of starter cultures that will be added at the appropriate time during the technological process.
• The technology and parameters of the process for producing aged garlic under controlled conditions will be developed.
• Physicochemical and sensory quality tests of products manufactured on a laboratory scale will be carried out, and a detailed physicochemical analysis of both products manufactured in laboratory conditions will be carried out.
• The developed technologies of new products will be implemented and process and product repeatability will be checked on devices constituting the technological line: garlic aging oven, garlic peeling line, packaging machine, freeze dryer.

The main benefits of the project

Garlic, grown in Poland on an industrial scale, is a vegetable with unique health-promoting and even medicinal properties. It is also valued for its intense taste and smell and used as a spice. In order to facilitate its use in food production plants (e.g. meats, dinner concentrates, spice mixtures, etc.) and in gastronomy, it is often dried and sold as powder or granules. Traditional drying causes far-reaching changes in the sensory quality and chemical composition of dried garlic, therefore the most recommended and frequently used method of drying garlic is freeze-drying, as it ensures the greatest preservation of the nutritional and sensory properties.

The fundamental qualitative change that is planned to be achieved as a result of the project is the development of technology and the launch of production of new variants of dried garlic, not yet known in Poland, obtained from lactic-fermented garlic and aged garlic, the so-called black. 

Therefore, the primary goal of the operation is to obtain two innovative products, i.e. powdered pickled garlic using starter cultures developed by a team of scientists and powdered aged (black) garlic, the production technology of which and the parameters of the production process will also be developed as part of the operation.

Practice summary

The result of the operation will be the development and implementation of an innovative technology for the production of freeze-dried, lactic-fermented (pickled) and aged (black) garlic from fresh garlic currently produced by farmers.

• The development and use in practice of dedicated starter cultures will allow us to achieve the quality of the final product and will always be repeatable.
• Obtaining black garlic is a very time-consuming process, because according to the original recipe, this garlic should be aged for several weeks in controlled conditions of temperature and air humidity. Optimizing this process is key to achieving production smoothness and continuity on the developed and projected production line. The innovative product, containing live bacterial cultures, will be characterized by high quality and nutritional value, safety and repeatability of sensory, microbiological and physicochemical properties. The products developed as part of the project will be widely used in the gastronomy, meat industry, households and restaurants as unique quality spices.
• The pilot technological line, which does not require high energy expenditure, will be a technological innovation. It will allow for product diversification, i.e. expanding the assortment offer of farms with new types of food and potential health-promoting properties.

As a result, the garlic-based products obtained in the technological process will fit into the category of natural, local food, and will also constitute an alternative, innovative offer characterized by a small carbon footprint and supply chain.

• Black garlic is characterized by a unique consistency, sweet taste and lack of pungent odor.
• You can eat it and benefit from its antibacterial properties, improving immunity and strengthening the body.
• Black garlic has a mild taste and digests well, so it can be consumed by children and the elderly.
• Pickled garlic, on the other hand, will have a more acceptable taste, smell and consistency than its fresh counterpart, and will be additionally enriched with live bacterial cultures with probiotic properties, therefore it will be a perfect complement to fermented products that enrich the natural bacterial flora in our intestines.

Additional comments

Freeze-dried pickled garlic, in addition to a number of health-promoting ingredients of the raw material, will be a carrier of live lactic acid bacteria, while freeze-dried black garlic will retain all its original sensory and health-promoting attributes while significantly extending the shelf life. Both products will be in the form of a loose powder that is easy to pack, transport, dose and use. Due to the very low water activity, the developed product innovations will be shelf-stable products that do not require the use of any additional fixation technique. Garlic, regardless of its form, is a recognized food product in the treatment and prevention of heart diseases, atherosclerosis, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and reduces blood clotting.