Curious facts about garlic and its consumption around the world

ajo blanco
White garlic, learn everything about this species and its health benefits
26 January, 2018
Uses of garlic outside the kitchen
16 February, 2018
Mostrar todo

Curious facts about garlic and its consumption around the world

ajo consumo mundial

Today we are going to tell you some curious facts about garlic and its consumption around the world, because as you can imagine, garlic is one of the most consumed vegetables around the world.

It’s not just your whole family who likes garlic, but also millions of families all over the world who consume garlic daily.

Who would have guessed that this condiment originating in Asia would become so popular over the centuries. And that its consumption and production would currently be a large competitive market led by China.

 

Learn curious facts about garlic and its consumption around the world

Garlic is used throughout the world for various purposes. It is mainly used to season, to flavor multiple dishes and sauces, or simply to spread as a dressing on bread.

But there are also other uses that encourage large quantities of garlic to be consumed across the world each year.

For example, for health reasons, where its beneficial properties for the body are well-known. It is also used as an antibiotic and antiseptic, as there are still places where you use it on wounds or insect bites.

In addition, of course, there are those who consume it for aesthetic purposes, because garlic helps to keep the skin soft and young, among other miracles of this vegetable.

 

  1. China is the leading producer of garlic worldwide

Well, why are we not surprised that this superpower is also the world leader in the production of garlic? Among the curious facts about garlic and its consumption worldwide, this is undoubtedly be the main point.

Although Chinese garlic is the easiest type of garlic to find in the world, it is not the tastiest or the most nutritious. In fact, we could say that the spring garlic that comes from the Chinese variety, are early, which means that they take less time to reach maturity for harvest.

This makes it easier for China to be a leader in garlic production and export, with 86% of the world’s garlic production.

You can recognize Chinese garlic because its garlic cloves are smaller and thinner, at the same time, its flavor is softer and doesn’t have any spiciness, compared to other varieties of garlic.

A head can have up to 15 bulbs of small size and it is worth noting that these have lower concentrations of nutritional properties.

 

  1. How much garlic does China in a year?

China maintains the constant growth of its garlic supply every year, so that even now the rule has been increasing.

For example, in 2016, despite the frost that struck the country affecting its garlic production, they were able to produce 4.66 million tons of garlic.

While in 2017 they increased their land area by 1%, and had the weather on their side, resulting in a harvest of 5.4 million tons.

And thanks to China being the main producer and exporter of garlic in the world, the price and supply of garlic in the market also depends on them.

 

  1. Major garlic producers around the world

But hey, the other 14% of the production and export of garlic is divided into three major areas in the world.

The first major region is European or Mediterranean comprised of Spain, France and Italy, in addition to Egypt and Turkey because of their geographical proximity.

The North American center is dominated by Mexico and the United States, and the South American center formed by Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

And although the production figures may vary slightly by decimals, they are divided as follows: 6% for the Mediterranean center. 3% for the North American center and 4% for the South American center.

 

  1. Spain is the main producer of garlic in Europe

Something that you would like to know, in these curious facts about garlic and its consumption all over the world, is that Spain is the main producer of garlic in Europe.

The Community of Castilla de la Mancha and the region of Las Pedroñeras is known as the region with the highest production of garlic nationwide, with more than 50%.

Las Pedroñeras represent and give shelter to the production of 227 municipalities in the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo, mainly.

Purple garlic, Castilian-Manchego garlic, is a variety of the traditional Spanish crop, and is used to flavor all kinds of dishes.

Its flavor is medium strong, with larger and fleshier garlic cloves or bulbs, with high concentrations of allicin and other beneficial properties of garlic.

Another fact that could interest you is that of the total garlic that itay imports, 58% is garlic from Spain.

 

Garlic consumption data worldwide

Everyone can use garlic for what best suits them, and we will talk about some of the ways garlic is used around the world which are driven by important organizations.

  • The Council of Europe registered it as category 1 food, thus promoting its consumption without any restrictions on use.

 

  • The World Garlic Congress, after multiple scientific advances on the use of garlic for health and its positive verification, began to promote the consumption of garlic with greater force after 1990.

 

  • There is an annual fair held in Gilroy, California, where all kinds of garlic items and souvenirs are displayed and sold. For example, food, drinks, breads, pastries, candies, syrups, sauces, oils, wines and everything you can imagine is sold there.

 

  • In 1999 the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the appropriate dosage of garlic in a given day is a medium-sized garlic clove (2 to 5 grams of fresh garlic).

 

  • Recent epidemiological studies in China showed that populations such as the Oixia who are not used to eating garlic, developed 40 cases out of every 100 thousand inhabitants.

 

Whereas in populations like Cangshan (main producers of garlic) who do consume garlic on a daily basis, only 3 cases of cancer were developed out of every 100 thousand inhabitants.