Cruciferous vegetables
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Edible plants in the family Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae) are termed Cruciferous vegetables. For a botanical description of plants in this family (whether or not used for food), see Brassicaceae. Ten of the most common vegetables eaten by people are in a single species (B. oleracea), and are not distinguished from one another taxonomically, but only by the horticultural category of cultivar groups. Numerous other genera and species in the family are also edible. Cruciferous vegetables are one of the dominant food crops worldwide. Widely considered to be healthful foods, they are high in vitamin C and soluble fibre and contain multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties: diindolylmethane, sulforaphane and selenium.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have recently discovered that 3,3'-Diindolylmethane in Brassica vegetables is a potent modulator of the innate immune response system with potent anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity.
Cruciferous vegetables contain goitrogens and nitriles. Cooking for 30 minutes reduces the amount of goitrogens to one tenth and also large amount of the nitriles are reduced. At high intake of crucifers, the goitrogens inhibit the incorporation of iodine into thyroid hormone and also the transfer of iodine into milk by the mammary gland.[1]
[edit] List of cruciferous vegetables
Extensive selective breeding has produced a large variety of cultivars, especially within the genus Brassica. One description of genetic factors involved in the breeding of Brassica species is the Triangle of U.
| common name | genus | specific epithet | Cultivar Group | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| kale | Brassica | oleracea | Acephala Group | |
| collard greens | Brassica | oleracea | Acephala Group | |
| chinese broccoli (kai-lan) | Brassica | oleracea | Alboglabra Group | |
| cabbage | Brassica | oleracea | Capitata Group | |
| brussels sprout | Brassica | oleracea | Gemmifera Group | |
| kohlrabi | Brassica | oleracea | Gongylodes Group | |
| broccoli | Brassica | oleracea | Italica Group | |
| broccoflower | Brassica | oleracea | Italica Group × Botrytis Group | |
| broccoli romanesco | Brassica | oleracea | Botrytis Group / Italica Group | |
| cauliflower | Brassica | oleracea | Botrytis Group | |
| wild broccoli | Brassica | oleracea | Oleracea Group | |
| bok choy | Brassica | rapa | chinensis | |
| mizuna | Brassica | rapa | nipposinica | |
| Rapini (broccoli rabe) | Brassica | rapa | parachinensis | |
| flowering cabbage | Brassica | rapa | parachinensis | |
| chinese cabbage, napa cabbage | Brassica | rapa | pekinensis | |
| turnip root; greens | Brassica | rapa | rapifera | |
| rutabaga | Brassica | napus | napobrassica | |
| siberian kale | Brassica | napus | pabularia | |
| canola/rape seeds; greens | Brassica | napus | oleifera | |
| wrapped heart mustard cabbage | Brassica | juncea | rugosa | |
| mustard seeds, brown; greens | Brassica | juncea | ||
| mustard seeds, white | Brassica (or Sinapis) | hirta | ||
| mustard seeds, black | Brassica | nigra | ||
| tatsoi | Brassica | rosularis | ||
| ethiopian mustard | Brassica | carinata | ||
| radish | Raphanus | sativus | ||
| daikon | Raphanus | sativus | longipinnatus | |
| horseradish | Armoracia | rusticana | ||
| Real wasabi (not horseradish) | Wasabia | japonica | ||
| rocket (arugula) | Eruca | vesicaria | ||
| watercress | Nasturtium | officinale | ||
| garden cress | Lepidium | sativum | ||
| komatsuna | Brassica | rapa | pervidis or komatsuna |
[edit] References
| general | Rebecca Wood, 1999. The new whole foods encyclopedia. ISBN 0-14-025032-8 |
| Brassica juncea | http://www.floridata.com/ref/B/bras_jun.cfm |
| Brassica napa | http://www.floridata.com/ref/B/bras_nap.cfm |
| Brassica oleracea | http://www.floridata.com/ref/B/brass_ole.cfm |
| chinese flowering cabbage | http://www.ahs.cqu.edu.au/info/science/psg/AsianVeg/ChinFlCabb.html |
| romanesco | http://www.fourmilab.ch/images/Romanesco/ |
| Cruciferae | http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/find_lat?FAM=Cruciferae&CAN=fam |
| edible/useful plants | http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/D_search.html |
