Introducing of some species of genus Allium subgenus Melanocrommyum from Iran as new sources of allicin

Allicin is a sulfur compound found in genus Allium characterized by numerous biological and pharmacological properties. Melanocrommyum, the second largest subgenus of Allium, has about 10 sections and 82 species in Iran. In this study, allicin content of aerial part, aerial part fresh mass and allicin yield belonging to 17 wild populations of six species of Allium sect. Acanthoprason and Asteroprason growing in different region of Iran, were analyzed. Allicin content evaluation using HPLC method showed its variation between populations from 26.98 to 58.11 mg g-1 FW, also showing that all the tested populations of Allium are rich in allicin. The average of aerial part fresh mass and allicin yield varied between populations from 0.49 g to 1.66 g and from 14 mg to 78 mg, respectively. The populations were classified in four major groups using dendrogram generated by UPGMA method of cluster analysis. However, grouping of populations was not completely related to species and geographical regions. This study is the first evaluation of allicin content in wild populations of Allium sect. Acanthoprason and Asteroprason in Iran. High amount of allicin in these populations make them a new sources of allicin.