الفهرس 
INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Onion (Allium cepa L.) and garlic (Allium sativum L.), among the oldest cultivated plants, are used both as a food and for medicinal applications. In fact, these common food plants are a rich source of several phytonutrients recognized as important elements of the Mediterranean diet, but are also used in the treatment and prevention of a number of diseases, including cancer, coronary heart disease, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, cataract and disturbances of the gastrointestinal tract (e.g. colic pain, flatulent colic and dyspepsia) (Lanzotti, 2006). These activities are related to the thiosulfinates, volatile sulfur compounds, which are also responsible for the pungent of these vegetables. Besides these low-molecular weight compounds, onion and garlic are characterized by more polar compounds of phenolic and steroidal origin, often glycosilated, showing interesting pharmacological properties. Over the past 15 years, the total surface area dedicated to onion crops in the world has doubled, Onion represents a source of cysteine derivatives, which makes it a good antioxidant additive for food (Ostrowska et al., 2004), increasing its potential usability as a functional food and in ethnomedicine (Tram Ngoc et al., 2005). Active ingreadients in onion (A. cepa) include phenolic compounds (flavonoids, anthocyanine, phenolic acids and flavonols), organosulphur compounds, viamins and some minerals (Ismail et al., 2003; Wang et al., 2005 and Elhassaneen and Sanad, 2009). It is generally considered that health-related functions are mostly attributed to the fresh garlic content, rich in c-glutamylcysteine and many other sulfur-containing compounds in it, giving a characteristic flavour formed during storage and processing (Banerjee et al., 2003; Xu and Cho, 2000). However, additional constituents of garlic include a wide range of primary and secondary non-sulfur biomolecules, such as steroidal glycosides (Matsuura et al., 1988), essential oil (Calvo-Gomez et al., 2004), flavonoids (Harborne and Williams, 1995), anthocyanins (Fossen and Andersen,1997), prostaglandins, pectin, adenosine, vitamins B1, B2, B6, C and E, biotin, nicotinic acid, fatty acids, glycolipids, phospholipids and essential amino acids (Fenwick and Hanley, 1985). Many of these components work synergistically to provide different health benefits (Amagase, 2006). Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the oral administration of either aquous extracts of garlic and onion on the levels of glucose and lipid profile in blood serum as well as tissues of induced diabetic rats with alloxan.