Training the Heavens

Chapter 371 Allicin

"Where are you from?" asked Zhang Xingjiu.

"To answer your question, sir, I came from the lower river." The visitor responded quickly and politely, revealing the cautiousness of a traveling merchant.

The so-called "Xiahe" means the lower reaches of the river. This is what many places in the southwest say. Sichuan cuisine is divided into three major factions: Shanghe Gang, Xiaohe Gang, and Xiahe Gang, which are based on the locations of various places on both sides of the river.

The person who replied was none other than Chen Shukang, who often contacted Zhang Xingjiu in Shanghai. One had to admire his ability. Whether he was pretending to be a comprador of a foreign company in Shanghai or a merchant in the southwestern mountainous area, he acted very well.

"Oh? What's the situation over there in Xiahe? Is there no fighting? Can we still go?" Zhang Xingjiu asked hurriedly with pretended concern.

"Well, it's neither good nor bad. There are always some risks, but we can find a way out if we think of a way." Chen Shukang took over the conversation and slowly walked to Zhang Xingjiu, looking around from time to time, as if there were some things that were not convenient to say.

Zhang Xingjiu was still thinking about what reason to call him into the house to talk alone, but the other person took the initiative to bring up the topic, so he quickly took him upstairs. The other guests did not find it strange. It was obvious that this merchant wanted to sell some information in exchange for a reward, so naturally he couldn't let others hear it.

Having the students stand guard outside, Zhang Xingjiu and him went into the house. After making sure no one was eavesdropping, they quickly asked, "How are you guys doing lately?"

Chen Shukang did not hide anything and said what he could, emphasizing that Ma Xinhua was relatively safe. He also mentioned Feifei and other old acquaintances of Zhang Xingjiu. Now Zhang Xingjiu was finally relieved. He knew the future of others, but Zhang Guoqiang was a variable. Now hearing that his child was doing well, Zhang Xingjiu finally felt relieved.

Then he talked about the reason why he appeared here. He had been leading people to collect intelligence in this area for some time. When he heard that Zhang Xingjiu was here, he hurried over to see him and inform him of some news.

Zhang Xingjiu quickly took out most of the medicine and money he had brought with him and stuffed them into his pockets. "You must need these now. It's a pity I didn't know about this in advance, otherwise I could have prepared more."

"That's a lot." Chen Shukang was very grateful and thanked him repeatedly. He came to the town just to buy medicine, and the medicine in the town pharmacy was not as good as the medicine Zhang Xingjiu brought with him. With these, he could save the lives of many wounded and sick people.

Zhang Xingjiu took out a booklet from his arms and handed it over. "Take this too. This is something I've researched recently. You should be able to use it. I wanted to give it to you earlier, but unfortunately I haven't been in touch."

He took it and flipped it open. The contents were basically the same as the previous one, all of which were traditional remedies for various injuries and ailments. However, the last part was a little different. "Allicin? What is this?"

"Like penicillin, it has a strong antibacterial effect. Even at extremely low concentrations, it can inhibit a variety of Gram-positive cocci and Gram-negative rods. It also has inhibitory effects on molds, viruses, protozoa, and pinworms. It has a significant inhibitory effect on E. coli and Shigella dysenteriae. Most importantly, it is easy to manufacture using traditional methods, and the raw materials are not difficult to obtain."

Allicin was discovered in garlic in 1944 by Italian chemist Cavallido and American chemist Cabaret. Subsequently, Swiss Nobel Prize-winning chemists Stroop and Zeubeck conducted further research in 1951, revealing that allicin is produced by the enzyme alliinase, which breaks down alliin in garlic. When garlic is intact, alliin in the cytoplasm and alliinase in the cytosol do not interfere with each other. However, once the cells are damaged, alliinase breaks down alliin and produces allicin.

After World War II, allicin gradually became a broad-spectrum antibacterial drug with multiple effects such as anti-inflammatory, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood lipids, inhibiting platelet aggregation, preventing cancer and antiviral, and has been widely used in medical, agricultural, food and other fields.

Now Zhang Xingjiu has taken out allicin, which can form an effective complement to penicillin and help them reduce more losses.

The traditional manufacturing process is also relatively simple. The first is the garlic mash method. Cut the garlic into small pieces, put them in a bottle, add appropriate amount of water, and place it in a dark place for 5-7 days. Stir once a day until the garlic mash becomes polysaccharide. After filtering, mix the garlic mash with water and store it at low temperature.

The other method is a little more complicated. Mix a certain proportion of garlic and honey into a paste, pour it into a glass bottle and seal it. After leaving it for 7 days, take 10 ml orally daily and dilute it with warm water when drinking.

If conditions are sufficient, you can also take the third method. Peel the garlic, wash it, and dry it. Then slice the garlic and grind it into powder. Put the garlic powder in a bottle, add alcohol and soak it for 2-3 days. Finally, filter the soaked garlic and keep the extract.

Add a certain amount of water to the allicin extract to dilute the solution, then heat the diluted solution to concentrate the allicin in the extract, add sodium chloride to the concentrated solution to allow other components to precipitate, and finally dry the precipitated allicin to obtain relatively pure allicin.

Chen Shukang took a quick look and felt that these methods were not difficult to use. Honey might be a little hard to find, but garlic was everywhere. Farmers in the mountains liked to plant some in front of and behind their houses, so it was easy to collect.

Thinking of the great role that penicillin had played before, his face flushed with excitement. "Teacher, you are helping us in our time of need again. This is what we need most now!"

This information was so important that he immediately changed his action plan. He left two people to continue purchasing supplies in the town, while he returned to the main force overnight with the booklet, handed in the information, and tried to start producing allicin according to the method in the booklet as soon as possible.

He had complete faith in Zhang Xingjiu's ability. Since the teacher said this thing worked, it must be useful. The sooner it was produced, the more lives of the wounded and sick could be saved. This could not be delayed.

After waking up in the morning, Zhang Xingjiu continued to go down the river, entered the Yangtze River and arrived in Wuhan. He got off the boat and stayed for a few days, communicated with the local education community, and did some similar preparatory work. Then he continued to board the boat and finally returned to Shanghai.

He had been running around for the past few years and hadn't brought his wife and children with him. He hadn't seen his two children for a long time. Unexpectedly, as soon as he got home, he saw someone coming to complain, "Mr. Ma, please take care of your good grandson. Look at what he has done!"

Huh? What's going on? Could my child be a bad boy?

(End of this chapter)