The Hill Garlic fondly known as Malai Poondu is very unique in the world for medicinal value due to its rich content of high antioxidant and antimicrobial potential which is attributed to the high presence of Organo sulfur and Phenol compounds compared to other Garlic varieties.

The Geographical Indications Registry has granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Kodaikanal Malai Poondu (Kodaikanal Hill Garlic) and this is the only Garlic in India with this prestigious honor.

The specialty of this Kodaikanal Malai Poondu lies in its extended storage life period of 8 to 11 months and this is because the cloves of the garlic do not get separated for these months and this is due to the fact pertaining to the hill altitude, climatic condition and soil where these are cultivated in the hills of Kodaikanal.

Since the garlic had been cultivated for many generations in the Kodaikanal region and even though the method of cultivation had gone through many levels of iteration, the farmers still adopt the traditional methods of cultivation with utilization of cow dung as manure before ploughing which provides the essential nutrients to the soil.

The cultivators of Kodaikanal Malai Poondu (Kodaikanal Hill Garlic) conventionally use this garlic regularly to maintain their general health and as medicine for their common ailments.