Why does sweet and sour garlic turn green?

In the twelfth month of last year, according to a friend, I pickled some sweet and sour garlic on the Laba Festival, which is also called Laba garlic in some places. After pickling for a few days, I found that the pickled sweet and sour garlic did not turn red but turned green. I was very worried that it had gone bad, so I wanted to throw it away. A neighbor saw it and said that it was normal for sweet and sour garlic to turn green during pickling, and told me some specific reasons. After listening to it, I felt relieved. Now I write down those reasons so that everyone can see why sweet and sour garlic turns green.

Why does sweet and sour garlic turn green?

1. Sweet and sour garlic turns green mostly due to temperature

The fact that sweet and sour garlic turns green during pickling has a lot to do with the temperature. In a low-temperature environment, a biochemical reaction will occur during the pickling process, causing the garlic to turn green, but the nutrients in the garlic will not be lost. A careful observation will reveal that sweet and sour garlic will turn green when pickled in winter, but will not turn green when pickled in summer.

2. Sweet and sour garlic turns green because of the ingredients in garlic

Garlic contains a large amount of sulfur substances. When encountering low temperatures, these substances will react with allinase to produce thioiodate, which is the precursor of garlic pigment. When it exists together with allicin in garlic, it will turn garlic green. It is said that this ingredient that can turn garlic green has a particularly strong antioxidant ability. Therefore, it is also very good for people to eat green garlic.

3. Prevention of Sweet and Sour Garlic Turning Green

When you are pickling sweet and sour garlic, if you don’t want it to turn green, you can put the container in a warmer place, or you can soak the processed garlic in hot water before pickling. This can prevent the sweet and sour garlic from turning green during the pickling process.