# Evaluation of Chemical Compounds in Local Garlic Genotypes from Southwestern Romania
## 3 Results
### _Acidity_  
The results obtained in the research regarding the acidity level in the analyzed garlic genotypes present significant variations. The acidity value for the control was 6 meq/100 g. Significant differences were observed among the selected genotypes: genotype G8 exhibited the lowest acidity value (3.48 meq/100 g), while genotype G13 had the highest acidity, a value of 11.02 meq/100 g. Additionally, 10 genotypes were noted to have acidity values higher than that of the control (Table 1).  
Correlation analysis aids in evaluating the relationship between chemical compounds in the bulb of the studied genotypes (Table 2). Correlation coefficients between the chemical characteristics of garlic genotypes (reducing carbohydrates, ascorbic acid, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant activity (AO), and acidity) are presented in Table 2. These analyses revealed significant positive correlations between AO and TPC (r = 0.667 **), as well as between acidity level and TPC (r = 0.689 **).  
This indicates that a higher polyphenol content influences the antioxidant capacities of garlic, as well as higher acidity levels. These results align with other authors who have also reported a positive relationship between total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity [3; 16; 17; 18; 19]. According to findings presented by [PERSON] et al. [18], it is noteworthy that the relationship between total polyphenol and flavonoid content and antioxidant activity significantly depends on the plant species, specific polyphenols and flavonoids present, and the conditions under which the plant was cultivated. Moderately significant correlations were found between ascorbic acid and reducing carbohydrates (r = 0.356 *), between TPC and TPC (r = 0.319 *), between TPC and acidity (r = 0.349 *), as well as between AO and acidity (r = 0.249 *). [PERSON] et al. [20] also reported a positive relationship between total polyphenol and total flavonoid content.  
In Figure 1, the relationship between total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant activity (AO) is illustrated. The trend line, resulting from a regression analysis, indicates the general direction of the relationship between the two variables (y = 0.0016x \(-\) 0.2756). There is a positive correlation between total phenolic content and antioxidant activity in the analyzed dataset (R\({}^{2}\) = 0.5638). In other words, as the phenolic content increases, an increase in antioxidant activity is expected, and vice versa.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **Reducing Sugars** & **Ascorbic Acid** & **TPC** & **TFC** & **AO** & **Acidity** \\ \hline Reducing sugars & 1 & 0.356 * & \(-\)0.014 & 0.267 & 0.138 & 0.123 \\ \hline Ascorbic acid & 0.356 * & 1 & 0.126 & \(-\)0.283 & 0.070 & 0.106 \\ \hline TPC & \(-\)0.014 & 0.126 & 1 & 0.319 * & 0.667 ** & 0.689 ** \\ \hline TPC & 0.267 & \(-\)0.283 & 0.319 * & 1 & 0.229 & 0.349 * \\ \hline AO & 0.138 & 0.070 & 0.667 ** & 0.229 & 1 & 0.294 * \\ \hline Acidity & 0.123 & 0.106 & 0.689 ** & 0.349 * & 0.294 * & 1 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed); ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).  
\end{table}
Table 2: Pearson correlation matrix between biological compounds of garlic genotypes.