Cruciferous vegetables

Cabbage plants

Cruciferous vegetables are vegetables of the family Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae). These vegetables are widely cultivated, with many genera, species, and cultivars being raised for food production such as cauliflower, cabbage, cress, bok choy, broccoli and similar green leaf vegetables. The family takes its alternate name (Cruciferae, New Latin for "cross-bearing") from the shape of their flowers, whose four petals resemble a cross.

Ten of the most common cruciferous vegetables eaten by people, known colloquially as cole crops,^[1] are in a single species (B. oleracea); they are not distinguished from one another taxonomically, only by 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. They are high in vitamin C and soluble fiber and contain multiple nutrients and phytochemicals.

Clinical significance

Drug and toxin metabolism

Chemicals contained in cruciferous vegetables induce the expression of the liver enzyme CYP1A2.^[2] Furthermore some drugs such as haloperidol and theophylline are metabolized by CYP1A2. Consequently consumption of cruciferous vegetable may decrease bioavailability and half-life of these drugs.^[3]

Brassicaceae contain a number of hepato-protective agents.^[4] Alliaceous and cruciferous vegetable consumption induces glutathione S-transferases, uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyl transferases, and quinone reductases^[5] all of which participate in detoxification of carcinogens such as aflatoxin.^[6]

Antimicrobial activity

Iso-thio-cyanates are an important factor in the action of wasabi against Helicobacter Pylori,^[7][8][9] and ITC is not a molecule, but a functional group on many different molecules, Sinigrin being a notable precursor of allyl-ITC, and AITC being a larger part of Wasabi than of most other Brassicaceae. Sulforaphane demonstrates anti-inflammatory effects on Helicobacter pylori-infected gastric mucosae in mice and human subjects.^[10]

Taste

People who can taste Phenylthiocarbamide, which is either very bitter or tasteless, are less likely to eat cruciferous vegetables, ^[11] due to the resemblance between Isothiocyanate (ITC) and PTC.

Contraindications

Goiter

Cruciferous vegetables can potentially be goitrogenic (inducing goiter formation). They contain enzymes that interfere with the formation of thyroid hormone in people with iodine deficiency.^[12][13] Cooking for 30 minutes significantly reduces the amount of goitrogens and nitriles. 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.^[14]

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.

References

Further reading

External links

• Brassica juncea
• Brassica napa
• Brassica oleracea
• Chinese flowering cabbage
• romanesco
• Cruciferae
• edible/useful plants