Garlic (Allium sativum L.): Overview on its Biology and Genetic Markers Available for the Analysis of Its Diversity in West Africa

Garlic belongs to the Allium genus, which includes more than 750 species divided into more than 60 taxonomic groups. It is cultivated in many countries throughout the world for the bulb and used as a spice and functional food. The plant vegetatively propagates. This review will focus on origins, biology, analysis of genetic diversity, pharmacological properties of garlic. It appears from this synthesis that the Allium sativum species is derived from Allium longicuspis and is native to Central Asia. Studies on the analysis of genetic diversity through morphological markers revealed a wide variation in the color, shape and number of cloves and the ability to flower. Biochemical markers such as Esterase (EST), Phosphoglucomutase (PGI), Malate Deshydrogenase (MDH), and Diaphorase (DIA as well as molecular markers such as Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), and Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRS) Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) were successfully used. RFLPs or RAPD are the most used for assessing genetic variability within asexually reproducing garlic species. Work using SSRs markers is limited in garlic relative to other crops.