When you chop a clove of garlic, you expect to find a nice, cream-colored center. But sometimes you see something small and green. What is it, where does it come from, and most importantly – can you eat it?
“When the garlic starts to turn green on the inside, that usually means the garlic is growing,” says Minvi Su, M.D., assistant professor and assistant professor in the Department of Plant Science at North Dakota State University. Institute of Food TechnologistsFruit and Vegetable Products Division.
“This is when the garlic begins to grow new shoots and roots, indicating that it is no longer fresh and has a much longer shelf life.”
Su noted that garlic sprouts when the cloves are exposed to moisture and warm temperatures. This is common when cloves are stored in a warm, humid place like a pantry.
How to prevent garlic from sprouting.
Green sprouts are a sign that the garlic is losing both its flavor and nutrients, Sue says.
To prevent green growth, they recommend storing garlic in a cool, dry place with good air circulation. He recommends storing it in the refrigerator, in a mesh bag or container with holes for air circulation, or in a dark, cool pantry.
Avoid placing garlic near produce that emits ethylene gas, such as apples. potatoor tomato. This allows the garlic to sprout more quickly. And don’t store it anywhere damp or anywhere hot, such as near an oven or stove.
“Another way is to use garlic as soon as possible and not store it for too long,” suggests Xu. “If you have a large amount of garlic, you can also separate the cloves and store them in small quantities so you can use them before they sprout.”
Can you eat sprouted garlic?
You can eat garlic sprouts, but some people find them bitter.
Professional chef and cookbook author David Leibovitz Did an experiment To see how the taste of food changes when the sprout is left in the garlic versus when it is removed.
Calling herself a “lifelong green germ picker,” Leibovitz made mayonnaise and served individual pasta dishes with and without garlic sprouts. He found that mayo made without sprouts was “vibrant and garlicky.” But the one made with green sprouts caused a bite and eventually a “disgusting” hot burn after swallowing.
Next, he made it Pasta with boiled garlic And said the two dishes — with and without garlic sprouts — were virtually indistinguishable.
“When consuming garlic raw, you should definitely remove the green germ,” Leibovitz advises. “For cooking, although it didn’t make much of a difference in my taste tests, I still recommend removing the green sprouts from the center, which I will continue to do, mostly because it gives me the same pleasure. Cleaning the lint filter on my dryer.