Short answers, pulled from the story.
The species Allium sativum grows wild in central and southwestern Asia, stretching from the Black Sea through northeastern Iran. Botanists struggle to identify its exact wild progenitor because most garlic cultivars are sterile.
Fresh or crushed garlic yields sulfur-containing compounds including allicin and ajoene. Enzymes stored in cell vacuoles trigger breakdown when cells break during chopping or chewing to create sharp flavors and strong smells.
China accounts for 72 percent of total world production in 2023 with global output reaching 29 million tonnes that year. Farmers grow garlic easily in loose dry well-drained soils under sunny conditions.
Garlic was rare in traditional English cuisine before 1548 while Mediterranean Europe embraced it as a common ingredient much earlier. Well-preserved garlic appeared inside Tutankhamun's tomb around 1325 BC.
Clinical research found consuming garlic produces only small reduction blood pressure four mmHg. No clear long-term effect exists on hypertension cardiovascular morbidity mortality rates according to 2016 meta-analysis results.