About Garlic

  China started to plant garlic 2,000 years ago. Chinese love garlic so much that they plant it throughout the country. Shandong,He'nan' and Jiangsu are the three biggest garlic production provinces, while Jinxiang is the largest garlic production area.

  Garlic is nutritious and is used in many ways. People realize its medical purpose long time ago. Those who eat garlic often are less likely to catch cold and suffer from diarrhea or arteriosclerosis. According to the research of scientific institutes, garlic contains allicin which increase flavor and appetite, and kill the bacteria. Also it has strong effect against cancer, which is recognized by more and more people. Garlic can be eaten after peeled, and be salted and dehydrated for different purposes.

   In terms of exportation garlic, first of all the packers need to buy dry and fine material. The workers select the proper size, cut the roots and keep the stem 1cm long. Take off the old and dirty external layers, and then pack in different styles.

  The harvest time of Jinxiang garlic is end of May, and usually new crop is available one month later. During this period of time garlic needs to be dried under natural sunlight, or else bulb will turn green and soft and shelf life will become shorter. Garlic should be sheltered from rainwater, otherwise garlic may become moldy or decay easily. In order to get longer shelf life, garlic should be put in cold stores where the temperature is kept under 1～3℃.

  According to FAO statistics, the general acreage of 2004 is 1,136,666 hectares, and the general output is 14,050,000 metric tons. China’s acreage is 636,666 hectares, and output is 10,580,000 metric tons, occupying 75% of the world’s general output. 90% of China garlic is for domestic sales and used for processing. Therefore, only 10% is exported to other countries over the world.

Please refer to statistics below,