Wild garlic is prolific across the UK and Europe, largely due to its ability to spread via both seeds and bulb splitting underground, and through releasing volatile compounds in surrounding soil, inhibiting seed germination of other plants!

Wild garlic is a versatile and tasty wild food well known by foragers, but it is also a fantastic medicine, especially for the heart. Extracts show nearly identical efficiency as garlic (Allium sativa) and conventional medications in reducing serum cholesterol levels and blood pressure. The key compound is allicin, which also lowers blood glucose levels and increases insulin activity, and exhibits significant antimicrobial effects, including resistant microbial strains of MRSA and Listeria.

Wild garlic likely has higher allicin content through being exposed to stressors like road traffic and noise, so if your collecting spots are busier than you’d like, don’t worry, it may be more medicinal than leaves collected in a quiet, sheltered woodland!

Keep an eye out for wild garlic foraging tips and recipe coming soon!

Written by Jenny Carden-Porrett.