Bawang
Allium sativum · Garlic
- Names in the 1901 book
- Ajo, Sp.; Bawag̃, Tag.; Garlic, Eng.
- Names in the 1985 book
- English: Garlic; Tagalog: Bawang; Visayan: Ahos
- Used for
- FeverCough and asthmaMouth, teeth and throatStomach and digestionSkinJoint pain, sprains and swellingUrinaryBites and stings
- Colours
- flowerwhite, pinkbulbwhite
- Native range
- Central Asia and northeastern Iran
- Family
- Amaryllidaceae, filed in the book under Liliaceæ
- Printed in 1901 as
- Allium sativum, L.
- Printed in 1985 as
- Allium sativum Linn.
- Sources
- Page 233 on Project Gutenberg · Healing Wonders of Herbs (1985), page 75 · Wikipedia
The plant today
Garlic (Allium sativum) is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to Central Asia, northeastern Iran and the foothills of Himalayas. It has naturalized in many other parts of the world, including Mediterranean Europe and China. There are two subspecies and hundreds of varieties of garlic. Garlic has been used for thousands of years as a seasoning, culinary ingredient, and traditional medical remedy.
Excerpt from “Garlic” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sa Tagalog
Ang bawang (Ingles: garlic) o Allium sativum (L.) ay isang uri ng halamang gulay na ginagamit sa pagluluto. Isa itong uri ng sibuyas na nasa pamilyang Alliaceae. Kalapit na kamag-anak nito ang mga sibuyas. Ginagamit na ito sa kabuoan ng kasaysayang nakatala, partikular na sa pagluluto at panggagamot.
Sipi mula sa “Bawang” sa Tagalog Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Recorded in the Philippines
GBIF holds 215 records of this plant from the Philippines. The ones with map coordinates fall in 16 provinces, most often Zamboanga del Norte (21), Bataan (7), Agusan del Norte (5), Ilocos Norte (5), Surigao del Norte (5), Benguet (4), Guimaras (4), Iloilo (4), and 8 more.
Counts from GBIF occurrence records, October 2026. They include planted trees and garden plants, and a province with no records may only lack collectors.
What the 1901 book says
A historical record, quoted as printed. Doses and remedies here are not medical advice.
The book gives one account for this plant and Sibuyas (Allium Cepa), so the text below appears on each page.
Uses
The garlic and the onion are used to excess as condiments in Philippine as well as Spanish cooking. Both are difficult of digestion and communicate a very disagreeable odor to the breath, intolerable to those who are unaccustomed to it. Garlic possesses the singular property, familiar to many students and soldiers, of inducing a transient fever if introduced within the anus. When bruised and applied to the skin it has a counter-irritant action which makes it useful in the treatment of rheumatism, but the odor is so disagreeable that it is not worth while to use it for that purpose when we have so many other medicines which produce the same effect without being objectionable. It is also used locally for the bites of venomous animals.
The onion is used cooked as a poultice over the bladder and internally for various catarrhs. It is better to abstain from the therapeutic and culinary use of products so indigestible and so malodorous.
Botanical description
These plants are so well known in all parts of the world that a description of them would be superfluous.
What the 1985 book uses it for
A record of home remedies from 1985, with the book's amounts and doses reworded. It is not medical advice.
- Athlete's footChopped clove rubbed on itchy areas.Peel and chop one clove. Rub on twice a day.Page 16
- RingwormCrushed clove rubbed on.Peel and crush one clove and rub until the skin reddens. Twice a day, after the morning bath and at bedtime.Page 36
- Sore throatPeeled clove chewed slowly.One peeled clove, kept in the mouth and chewed a little at a time.Page 40
- ToothachePiece of a clove placed in the cavity.Renew the piece twice a day.Page 43
Summarised from Herminia de Guzman-Ladion, Healing Wonders of Herbs (Manila: Philippine Publishing House, 1985), where this plant is shown as “Bawang” on page 75. The book is in copyright, so its wording and photographs are not reproduced. Amounts are the book's, restated.
Recent research
The most cited papers since 2022 that name this plant in the title, pulled from Europe PMC in October 2026. Titles are the authors' own and the findings have not been reviewed here.
- Garlic (Allium sativum L.): Its Chemistry, Nutritional Composition, Toxicity, and Anticancer Properties
- Bioactive polysaccharides and oligosaccharides from garlic (Allium sativum L.): Production, physicochemical and biological properties, and structure-function relationships
- In vitro and in silico studies of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) from Allium sativum against diabetes