Help my garlics turned blue

[this41uk]

Hi

This may be a bit off topic but I've just had a Speight of pickling and preserving.

The usual stuff onions jam that sort of thing. Then I had an idea, I live close to an Asian supermarket where amongst other things you can buy garlic by the kilo.

So I though pickled garlic.

Well to the point I pealed and salted the garlic the soaked them in lemon juice for a few hours ( I think I read somewhere that lemon juice took the bitterness away).

The Filled a couple of Kilners with said garlic and topped up with white wine vinegar.

All was well for a few hours then they started to turn a very fetching aqua marine. Now they are blue right through.

Could it be something I've done? Could they be dangerous?

Please Help

Tim

[this41uk]

this be it.

[Bad Flynch]

I really do not know what is going on, but hat is cool!

Plants are full of pigments, called anthocyanins, that change color with changes of the pH (acid/base). Exposing the pigments to acid tends to intensify them and exposing the pigment to a base tends to change the color or eliminate it completely. In addition, you stated you added wine and most wines contain at least a few tannins. Tannins form all sorts of funny compounds.

Neat pic.

[saucisson]

Looks bad, post them to me and if I'm still alive come February I'll post the empty jar back
More seriously:
Looks like your garlic has a good dose of a mettalic element in it that has reacted with the acetic acid, I wouldn't worry

Dave

[TJ Buffalo]

Good call, Bad Flynch, I looked around and found this:

According to the Food Network at www.foodtv.com...they looked into the reason pickled garlic sometimes turns blue or green. Garlic contains anthocyanins, water-soluble pigments that turn blue, green or purple in an acid solution. While this color transformation tends to occur more often with immature garlic, it can differ among cloves within the same head of garlic. The garlic flavor remains unchanged, and it totally edible without bodily harm.

On the same subject,garlic contains sulfur compounds which can react with copper to form copper sulfate, a blue or blue-green compound. The amount of copper needed for this reaction is very small and is frequently found in normal water supplies. Raw garlic contains an enzyme that if not inactivated by heating reacts with sulfur (in the garlic) and copper (from water or utensils) to form blue copper sulfate.

The garlic is still perfectly safe to eat.

Garlic exposed to excessive direct sunlight can also turn green and acquire a bitter taste.

[this41uk]

Cheers TJ

Thats solved the problem for me.

Sorry Dave it looks like the jars coming back out of the box and I've saved the cost of a first class stamp.


Tim

[wallie]

Strange about the garlic turning blue, a simular thing happened to me.
I grow my own and its called elephant garlic, plant in october harvest the following august.
The cloves are massive so I preserve quite a bit by blending it with a drop of sunflower oil then into jars. It comes out as a beutiful creamy white and will keep in the fridg for a year without any discolouration.
A couple of year ago I was visiting my daughter who lives in Toronto and she happened to mention that when she bought garlic it did not keep very long, so I thought I would use my method on some supermarket garlic.
Everything went o/k I blended it and into jars.
Two days later it had turned a bluey green.
We did not like the colour and threw it out. after reading these posts I suppose it would of been o/k.
Funny how mine did not change colour though. maybe because it was organic.
The blender method is a great way to preserve garlic, I started out with 2 heads of it which I purchased mail order about 10 year ago and I keep a few heads from every years harvest to plant again.
My family and relations are all garlic lovers and I am the supplier.
It keeps the blood thin, less work for the old pump to do.#

Regards
wallie