## 3 Results and Discussion
Organic garlic EBG was characterised by an approx. 17.13% higher antioxidant activity than conventional black garlic (BG). The results obtained are confirmed in the studies by other authors, although they usually obtained a much higher increase in the antioxidant capacity of black garlic [70; 82; 83], which is due to the different conditions of the aging process of garlic, primarily temperature. [PERSON] et al. (2014) [64] found approx. a 3.6-fold increase in antioxidant potential of black garlic produced at 40 \({}^{\circ}\)C and a seven-fold increase in this parameter at 80 \({}^{\circ}\)C. A similar correlation between the increase in antioxidant activity and aging temperature of garlic was shown by other authors, who state that the temperature of 72 \({}^{\circ}\)C seems to be the most optimal. In addition, they showed that the antioxidant capacity of black garlic processed in the form of cloves was 6.5 times higher, and in the form of whole heads it was as much as 9.5 times higher as compared with unprocessed garlic [68; 95]. Still others investigated the dynamics of changes in antioxidant properties of black garlic over time, showing that during the first 21 days of heat treatment antioxidant properties of garlic grow intensively (approx. two times), then, depending on the temperature and humidity, they stabilise and may even decrease [73]. According to our study, the system of cultivation and the qualitative and quantitative composition of the raw material used are also important here, because as for both polyphenic compounds and their antioxidant properties, white, unprocessed garlic from organic cultivation contains more bioactive compounds (total polyphenols, phenolic acids, and flavonoids), which results in their higher content and higher antioxidant activity obtained in the process of long-lasting heat treatment of organic black garlic. The obtained test results for all analyzed garlic samples showed a statistically significant (\(p<\) 0.05) correlation between the antioxidant activity, measured by the ability to deactivate synthetic ABTS\({}^{\star\bullet}\) cationic radicals, and the total polyphenol content (R\({}^{2}\) = 0.95), which means that the relationship between the tested parameters was practically complete. The antioxidant properties are attributed in particular to polyphenic compounds, which repeatedly increase their content during the aging process of garlic, but also to organosulphuric compounds, being derivatives of allin and allicin (sulphides, disulphides, diallyl trisulphides or S-allyl-Cysteine), found in large quantities in fresh garlic [60; 64; 77], the profile of which changes significantly during long-lasting heat treatment of black garlic [108; 109; 110]. Fresh, undamaged garlic in the form of heads or cloves lacks a characteristic sharp, garlic smell and taste as long as its tissue structure remains intact [13; 14]. According to the literature, colourless and odourless organosulphurics, such as allin and \(\gamma\)-glutamyl-S-allyl-cysteine, naturally collected during fresh garlic storage, can account for 1.8% and 0.9% of its mass, respectively, and are precursors of the organosulphurics deciding of taste and smell characteristic of garlic [14]. Only mechanical damage to the structure, such as crushing, cutting, biting or heat treatment, causes the release of a vacuolar enzyme (allinase), hydrolysing allilin to unstable aromatic allicin (diallyl thiosulphonate), immediately decomposed into sulphides, disulphides and trisulphides of diallyl, and ajoenes [110]. At the same time, \(\gamma\)-glutamyl-s-allyl-cysteine present in garlic is converted into other metabolites, such as s-alkylcysteine, which is assigned a number of valuable properties, including antioxidant properties [13; 14; 24; 60; 71]. As a result, consumption of fresh raw garlic is accompanied by a characteristic sharp and typically garlic aroma and taste.