rainbow of colors in garlic wrappers

bower · September 15, 2017

It is interesting that the clove wrapper is only yellow on the part that was exposed by stripping the outer wrappers before it had cured. I am hazarding a guess that exposure to air may have changed the color reaction which is going on as the clove wrappers are curing.
I also noticed that other cloves with wireworm damage showed a yellowing of the wrapper around their nasty bites.

bower · September 15, 2017

I would like to know more about the difference between clove wrappers and the outer wrappers. You may have noticed that each time you strip off a wrapper, you can see lovely colors, however they fade as the garlic cures, until only the clove wrapper really retains a lot of color. And these wrappers - on hardnecks - are not at all like the papery outer wrappers. They are really quite hard, glossy and a bit brittle. Since the color is permanent I'm guessing there are amino acids involved in that clove cover structure - and the specific amino acid composition is typical of a variety, which gives them a distinctive clove color.

September 15, 2017	#2
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	I would like to know more about the difference between clove wrappers and the outer wrappers. You may have noticed that each time you strip off a wrapper, you can see lovely colors, however they fade as the garlic cures, until only the clove wrapper really retains a lot of color. And these wrappers - on hardnecks - are not at all like the papery outer wrappers. They are really quite hard, glossy and a bit brittle. Since the color is permanent I'm guessing there are amino acids involved in that clove cover structure - and the specific amino acid composition is typical of a variety, which gives them a distinctive clove color.