Amino Acid Components of Garlic Under Various Drying Methods

This study presents a comparative evaluation of five garlic (Allium sativum L.) drying methods – convective (50-70 °C), vacuum (40-60 °C, 50 kPa), freeze-drying (–40 °C, 0.1 kPa), microwave (600 W, under vacuum), and a combined freeze-dry + microwave approach – focusing on retention of free amino acids (GABA, arginine, alanine, S-allyl derivatives). 3-5 mm slices were dried to final moisture, water-extracted, proteins precipitated, and the free amino acids quantified by HPLC-MS/MS. Freeze-drying preserved 98-100 % of amino acids, vacuum drying 60-70 %, microwave drying 75 %, convective drying 60 %, while the combined method retained up to 90 % with significant savings in time and energy. The findings support using freeze-drying and combined regimes for producing functional dried garlic products rich in bioactive amino acids.