When garlic has gone bad you can tell by the color, feel and smell of the garlic.
When your garlic is bad the garlic will be soft to the touch and mushy, and will often have brown spots or other discoloration, smell rotten or sour and have green sprouts that come out of the top of the bulb of the garlic.
Or if the garlic appears mushy when peeled it indicates that the garlic has started to decay and a fresh and good clove of garlic should be mostly white in color and firm.
When the garlic is fresh and good the garlic bulb should be firm and a bad bulb of garlic will feel pliable and soft.
Seeing green sprouts from the top of the garlic bulb is a sign of improper storage of the garlic.
Or if the garlic is shriveled or have brown husks they are bad and should be thrown out.
The color of mold on garlic can be black or even fuzzy white or blue or blue-green color.
Blue mold that appears on garlic is caused by Penicillium hirsutum.
Fuzzy white or dark mold on garlic is a sure sign that the garlic is spoiled and means that the garlic is no longer safe to eat.
Blue or blue green mold is often associated with a fungal disease called blue mold of garlic and it can appear powdery and is often associated with soft or water soaked areas of the garlic.
If you notice any signs of mold on your garlic you should throw it out.
The best container to store garlic in is a mesh bag, garlic keeper or even a wire basket.
For fresh whole garlic you want to store it in something with good airflow and not in a sealed container or plastic bag and it will lock in the moisture and cause the garlic to rot.
However if you have cut up or minced or chopped garlic then it should be stored in a Ziploc bag or a plastic container with a lid and refrigerated.
But whole fresh garlic should be kept at room temperature and allowed to breathe.
You should not keep garlic in the fridge unless you've cut up or minced or chopped the garlic up.
Garlic is best stored whole in a cool, dry and dark place like the pantry because putting garlic in the fridge can cause the garlic to sprout faster and even affect the garlic's flavor as a result of the temperature change.
The color of mold on garlic can be black or even fuzzy white or blue or blue-green color.
Blue mold that appears on garlic is caused by Penicillium hirsutum.
Fuzzy white or dark mold on garlic is a sure sign that the garlic is spoiled and means that the garlic is no longer safe to eat.
Blue or blue green mold is often associated with a fungal disease called blue mold of garlic and it can appear powdery and is often associated with soft or water soaked areas of the garlic.
If you notice any signs of mold on your garlic you should throw it out.
The black stuff on garlic is a type of mold caused by a fungus called Aspergillus niger.
Aspergillus niger mold and fungus often appears on the outer skin of the garlic bulb and especially around the neck of the garlic and can manifest as spots or black streaks.
The mold on the garlic is often a result of a post harvest issue and means it develops after the garlic has been harvested and stored and often as a result of improper drying or storage conditions that are warm.
The black mold on the garlic means that the garlic is not safe to eat and should be thrown out.
Discard any garlic that is effected with the black mold and to help prevent the black mold from appearing on the garlic store the garlic in a cool, dry and well ventilated area.
Most mold produce mycotoxins, that can cause cancer and other diseases.
Just looking at the mold color and morphology ( under a microscope), one can not decide.
It's not worth the risk of possibly getting sick from eating the garlic with the mold on it so just throw it out to be safe and use fresh garlic without the mold.
Aspergillus niger is a type of mold that classified within the Nigri section of the Aspergillus genus.
The Aspergillus genus consists of common molds that are found throughout the environment within soil and water, on vegetation, in fecal matter, on decomposing matter, and suspended in the air.