Diallyl Disulfide (CAS: 2179-57-9) is a naturally occurring organosulfur compound found in Allium plants and one of the core active components of garlic oil. With a chemical formula of C₆H₁₀S₂, it appears as a pale yellow clear liquid with a unique and strong garlic odor. The diallyl and disulfide bond structures in its molecular configuration endow it with excellent core properties such as antibacterial activity, flavoring capabilities, and physiological activity, making it irreplaceable in applications including feed additives, food flavoring, pharmaceutical and healthcare products, and industrial odorants. Its production mainly relies on two major routes: chemical synthesis and plant extraction. Market demand is closely linked to the large-scale development of livestock and poultry breeding, the upgrading of the food industry, and the popularization of growing health awareness. Based on the industrial attributes and application characteristics of this compound, this article systematically analyzes its global market dynamics, focusing on core application scenarios, market competition patterns, regional development differences, and future trends, aiming to provide strategic references for industry participants.
(I)Core Application Fields, Properties, and Synthesis Processes
The market demand for diallyl disulfide is highly concentrated in four major fields: feed additives, food flavoring, pharmaceutical and healthcare products, and industrial odorants. Its natural origin, high-efficiency antibacterial activity, and unique flavor are the core advantages driving demand growth.
In terms of core properties: Firstly, it exhibits significant antibacterial activity, exerting a strong inhibitory effect on various pathogenic bacteria such as Shigella and Staphylococcus, while enhancing immunity, making it suitable for green breeding and food preservation needs. Secondly, it possesses a unique flavor—when highly diluted, it presents a natural garlic aroma, serving as a key component in natural food flavoring. Thirdly, it demonstrates prominent physiological activity, including hypotensive, lipid-lowering, and potential anticancer effects, providing a foundation for the development of pharmaceutical and healthcare products. Fourthly, it has good chemical activity and can derive a variety of high-value compounds through reactions such as oxidation and addition, expanding its application boundaries.
Synthesis processes are mainly divided into two categories:
• Plant extraction: Essential oil containing diallyl disulfide is obtained by steam distillation of Allium plants such as garlic and onions, followed by separation and purification to yield the product. This method offers outstanding naturalness but is highly dependent on raw material supply and has low yield (only about 2 grams of garlic oil can be extracted from 100 grams of garlic cloves).
• Chemical synthesis: Currently, the mainstream industrial process involves the reaction of sodium disulfide with allyl chloride (or allyl bromide) at 40-60℃ under the protection of inert gas, achieving a yield of over 88%. Some processes incorporate high-shear technology or phase transfer catalysts to simultaneously improve reaction rate and selectivity, effectively reducing production costs. Additionally, it can be prepared through methods such as the oxidation of allyl mercaptan, which is suitable for niche high-purity demand scenarios.
(II)Product Market Pattern and Regional Characteristics
The global market demand for diallyl disulfide presents a regional differentiation feature of “Asia-Pacific leading production and basic consumption, Europe and North America leading high-end applications, and emerging markets accelerating growth.” Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe together account for 92% of the global market size. Regional industrial division of labor is significantly influenced by breeding scale, food industry development level, and health concepts.
Asia-Pacific is the world’s largest production hub and consumer market, with China, India, and Southeast Asia forming the core region. As the world’s largest producer (accounting for over 75% of global annual output), China not only meets domestic demand in the feed and food sectors but also exports large quantities to emerging markets. Domestically, the feed additive sector accounts for over 60% of demand. With the upgrading of demand for green additives in large-scale breeding, the domestic market size of feed-grade diallyl disulfide increased by 12% year-on-year in 2024. India and Southeast Asia, relying on their large-scale breeding and food processing industries, have become important consumer markets for industrial-grade products, with annual procurement volume growth rates of 10%-13% in countries such as Vietnam and Thailand.
Europe and North America dominate the demand for high-end products, accounting for over 80% of global consumption of food-grade and pharmaceutical-grade products. Driven by natural food regulations in Europe, demand for naturally derived diallyl disulfide in countries such as Germany and France is growing significantly faster than the industry average, with strict requirements for product purity and traceability. The United States, meanwhile, has prominent demand in the healthcare product sector and is a core consumer market for garlic-based healthcare raw materials.
In emerging markets, Latin America and Africa have become engines of basic demand growth driven by the expansion of the breeding industry and the development of the food industry. Countries such as Brazil and South Africa have seen steady growth in demand for feed-grade products. This regional market is highly price-sensitive, with Chinese and Indian enterprises dominating due to cost advantages, maintaining an annual demand growth rate of 9%-11%.
(III)Regulatory and Environmental Considerations
As a functional ingredient widely used in feed, food, and pharmaceutical fields, the production, trade, and use of diallyl disulfide are subject to strict regulation by major global economies. Compliance certification is a core threshold for entering mainstream markets, with significant differences in regulatory standards across different application fields.
In the EU market: For use as a food additive, it must comply with relevant EU food additive regulations, pass safety assessments, and be included in the permitted use list. For use as a feed additive, it must meet EU feed additive certification requirements, with clear limits on heavy metal residues. Non-EU manufacturers must fulfill compliance obligations through a single representative within the EU, resulting in high compliance costs.
In the US market: Food-grade products must adhere to the requirements of the FDA’s Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR) and provide complete purity testing and safety data. Pharmaceutical-grade products must pass relevant pharmaceutical raw material certifications.
In the Asian market: China has incorporated it into the National Food Safety Standard for Food Additives – diallyl disulfide (GB 29966-2013) and relevant feed additive standards, implementing a safety production licensing system for manufacturers. Among these, feed-grade products must comply with full-process specifications such as technical requirements and test methods in national standards. Japan regulates products for different application scenarios through the Food Sanitation Act and the Feed Safety Act, requiring complete raw material and production traceability reports. Additionally, as a flammable liquid (flash point 62℃), diallyl disulfide must be packaged in compliance with the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code) for international trade.
Environmentally: The global trend toward green chemical industry is driving the upgrading of production processes. Wastewater treatment issues in traditional chemical synthesis processes have become a regulatory focus. The EU REACH Regulation is promoting enterprises to adopt green catalytic and recycling technologies. Domestic enterprises have also generally introduced solvent recovery systems, increasing solvent recovery rates to over 90% and reducing carbon emissions per unit product by 25% compared to traditional industry levels.
(IV)Future Outlook
The market prospect of diallyl disulfide is closely tied to the development of three major fields: green breeding, natural food, and health care. Globally, the trends of “replacing chemically synthesized additives” and “natural consumption,” coupled with the expansion of emerging market demand, will become the core growth drivers. It is expected that the global market size will maintain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8%-11% over the next five years.
On the demand side, three key growth drivers are evident:
• The advancement of green breeding policies—global policies restricting the use of antibiotics continue to tighten, driving steady growth in demand for feed-grade diallyl disulfide.
• The upgrading of the food industry—increased demand for natural flavoring and preservation is driving the expansion of food-grade products in applications such as meat products and condiments.
• The development of the health industry—its unique physiological activity has attracted attention in the pharmaceutical field, and demand for healthcare products and pharmaceutical raw materials is expected to achieve breakthrough growth.
The industry faces several key challenges: fluctuations in raw material prices (price volatility of chemical raw materials such as allyl chloride reaches 25%-35%), increased compliance costs due to differences in regional regulatory standards, and high technical barriers in the separation and purification of high-purity products. To address these challenges, enterprises need to focus on three key areas:
• Technologically: Optimize synthesis and purification technologies to improve product purity and yield, and expand the derivative product system.
• Supply chain: Establish long-term raw material cooperation mechanisms to mitigate the risk of price fluctuations.
• Compliance: Build a global compliance service system to quickly respond to regulatory requirements in different regions.
In summary, as a functional organosulfur compound empowering multiple industries, diallyl disulfide offers significant value, with demand continuing to grow driven by the trends of “green, natural, and efficient.” Despite various challenges, technological upgrading and application expansion contribute to its positive market prospects. In the future, enterprises with technological advantages, compliance capabilities, and full industrial chain layout will lead the industry’s development.
As a key domestic supplier of organosulfur compounds, Shanghai XinChem Chemical Co., Ltd. is committed to meeting the innovative needs of the pharmaceutical, feed, food, and industrial sectors. Leveraging its core technological advantages in the synthesis and purification of organosulfur compounds, the company provides high-quality diallyl disulfide to global customers. The product line covers both plant-extracted and chemically synthesized series, offering dual advantages of naturalness and cost-effectiveness, and fully complies with strict industry standards for feed, food, pharmaceuticals, and other fields, making it an ideal choice in the functional fine chemicals sector.
(I)Technological Advantages
• Green synthesis process: Based on its organosulfur compound synthesis technology platform, the company has developed a highly selective catalytic synthesis process combined with molecular distillation purification technology, achieving simultaneous improvements in product quality and production efficiency. Using sodium disulfide and allyl chloride as raw materials, the self-developed high-efficiency phase transfer catalyst precisely controls the reaction process, resulting in byproduct content of less than 0.5% and raw material conversion rate of over 95%. Trace impurities are removed through multi-stage molecular distillation, ensuring stable product purity of over 98% and controlling variations in key indicators between batches within 0.2%, meeting high-end application requirements. The plant-extracted series adopts low-temperature distillation technology to maximize the retention of natural active ingredients and enhance product flavor purity.
• Full-chain compliance control: The production process strictly adheres to China’s GB standards, EU food additive regulations, and relevant FDA requirements. Targeting the characteristics of diallyl disulfide, a full-chain quality control system covering raw material traceability, in-process testing, and finished product release has been established. Green solvents are used to replace traditional highly toxic solvents, achieving a solvent recovery rate of over 95% and reducing carbon emissions per unit product by 30% compared to the industry average, practicing the concept of “green manufacturing and low-carbon development.”
(II)Product Advantages
• High purity and multi-specification adaptability: The product range includes specifications with purities of 95% (industrial grade), 97% (feed grade), 98% (food grade), and 99% (pharmaceutical grade), which can be accurately matched to application scenarios according to customer needs. Among these, food-grade and pharmaceutical-grade products have passed multiple international certifications, ensuring antibacterial activity and flavor stability while avoiding interference from impurities on product performance.
• Diversified packaging and storage/transportation: Flexible packaging solutions are provided, including 180KG galvanized iron drums for industrial-grade products (for large-scale applications), 25KG food-grade plastic drums (for pilot and batch production), and 1KG/5KG sealed aluminum bottles (for laboratory R&D and small-batch formulation). An exclusive normal-temperature light-shielded storage and transportation system is established, with strict control of storage temperature between 5-30℃ to prevent product oxidation and deterioration, ensuring the safety of transportation and storage.
• Reliable supply chain guarantee: Relying on its own synthesis and extraction production bases, the annual production capacity of diallyl disulfide reaches 200 tons, capable of meeting the large-scale and stable supply needs of global customers. A strategic raw material reserve mechanism is established to effectively mitigate the risk of raw material price fluctuations and ensure on-time order delivery.
(III)Application Fields
With its unique antibacterial activity, flavor characteristics, and physiological functions, diallyl disulfide demonstrates broad application value across multiple fields. Shanghai XinChem‘s products focus on the following scenarios:
• Feed additive field: As a green antibacterial additive, it is used in livestock, poultry, and aquatic feeds to replace some antibiotics, inhibit intestinal pathogenic bacteria, improve feed conversion rate and animal immunity, adapt to the needs of large-scale green breeding, and comply with the global trend of greening feed additives.
• Food flavoring field: As a natural garlic flavor component, it is used in the flavor formulation of meat products, condiments, and convenience foods, providing a natural and mellow garlic flavor that meets the requirements for natural food additives.
• Pharmaceutical and healthcare field: Used as an active raw material in the preparation of lipid-lowering and antibacterial healthcare products, or as a pharmaceutical excipient to improve formulation stability, with a good safety record when used appropriately.
• Industrial odorant field: Used as a leak detection odorant in heating water, gas, and other systems. With its strong and stable odor characteristics, it enables rapid leak identification, ensuring the safety of industrial production.
(IV)Service Support
• Customized technical solutions: A team of senior organosulfur chemistry and application engineers provides full-process technical support. For different application scenarios, professional advice is offered on product selection, optimization of usage ratios, and setting of reaction process parameters to solve technical problems in product application and develop customized solutions (such as specific purity and compound formulations).
• Comprehensive qualification certification: Complete product analysis reports (COA), Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS), dangerous goods transportation identification certificates, and relevant international certification documents are provided to ensure the product complies with domestic and foreign industry regulatory requirements and meets import and export compliance needs. – Rapid response service: Fast delivery commitment; a professional customer service team responds to customer inquiries 24/7 to promptly address various issues during the order and usage process.
(V)Reasons to Choose Shanghai XinChem Chemical
• Professionalism: With 20 years of experience in the chemical industry, particularly leading technology in the synthesis and purification of organosulfur compounds, and multiple core process patents.
• Flexibility: Customized purity specifications, packaging solutions, and compound formulations can be provided according to customer needs, adapting to full-process requirements from small-scale trials to mass production.
• Cost-effectiveness: Relying on large-scale production and optimized processes, it achieves the perfect combination of high-quality products and competitive prices, helping customers reduce costs.
• Compliance guarantee: A global compliance system is established, with products passing multiple national certifications to ensure customers can smoothly enter target markets.
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Post time: Jan-12-2026