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Our research group previously found that broccoli sprouts possess neuroprotective effects during pregnancy. The active compound has been identified as sulforaphane (SFA), obtained from glucosinolate and glucoraphanin, which are also present in other crucifers, including kale. Sulforaphene (SFE), obtained from glucoraphenin in radish, also has numerous biological benefits, some of which supersede those of sulforaphane. It is likely that other components, such as phenolics, contribute to the biological activity of cruciferous vegetables. Notwithstanding their beneficial phytochemicals, crucifers are known to contain erucic acid, an antinutritional fatty acid. The aim of this research was to phytochemically examine broccoli, kale, and radish sprouts to determine good sources of SFA and SFE to inform future studies of the neuroprotective activity of cruciferous sprouts on the fetal brain, as well as product development. Three broccoli: Johnny's Sprouting Broccoli (JSB), Gypsy F1 (GYP), and Mumm's Sprouting Broccoli (MUM), one kale: Johnny's Toscano Kale (JTK), and three radish cultivars: Black Spanish Round (BSR), Miyashige (MIY), and Nero Tunda (NT), were analyzed. We first quantified the glucosinolate, isothiocyanate, phenolics, and DPPH free radical scavenging activity (AOC) of one-day-old dark- and light-grown sprouts by HPLC. Radish cultivars generally had the highest glucosinolate and isothiocyanate contents, and kale had higher glucoraphanin and significantly higher sulforaphane content than the broccoli cultivars. Lighting conditions did not significantly affect the phytochemistry of the one-day-old sprouts. Based on phytochemistry and economic factors, JSB, JTK, and BSR were chosen for further sprouting for three, five, and seven days and subsequently analyzed. The three-day-old JTK and radish cultivars were identified to be the best sources of SFA and SFE, respectively, both yielding the highest levels of the respective compound while retaining high levels of phenolics and AOC and markedly lower erucic acid levels compared to one-day-old sprouts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commonly cultivated Brassicaceae mustards, namely garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), white mustard (Brassica alba), Ethiopian mustard (B. carinata), Asian mustard (B. juncea), oilseed rape (B. napus), black mustard (B. nigra), rapeseed (B. rapa), white ball mustard (Calepina irregularis), ball mustard (Neslia paniculata), treacle mustard (Erysimum repandum), hedge mustard (Sisymbrium officinale), Asian hedge mustard (S. orientale), smooth mustard (S. erysimoides) and canola are the major economically important oilseed crops in many countries. Mustards were naturalized to Australia and New Zealand and Australia is currently the second largest exporter of Brassicaceae oilseeds to meet the global demand for a healthy plant-derived oil, high in polyunsaturated fats. Apart from providing edible oil, various parts of these plants and many of their phytochemicals have been used traditionally for both agronomic as well as medicinal purposes, with evidence of their use by early Australian and New Zealand settlers and also the indigenous population. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge of traditional and agronomic uses of Brassicaceae oilseeds and mustards with a focus on their importance in Australia and New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The beneficial role of the Mediterranean diet in the prevention of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity, is well-recognized. In this context, Brassicaceae are considered important vegetables due to several evidences of their health promoting effects that are associated to bioactive compounds present in the edible parts of the plants. In this review, the mechanisms of action and the factors regulating the levels of the bioactive compounds in Brassicaceae have been discussed. In addition, the impact of industrial and domestic processing on the amount of these compounds have been considered, in order to identify the best conditions that are able to preserve the functional properties of the Brassicaceae products before consumption. Finally, the main strategies used to increase the content of health-promoting metabolites in Brassica plants through biofortification have been analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucosinolates (GSLs) are widely known secondary metabolites that have anticarcinogenic and antioxidative activities in humans and defense roles in plants of the Brassicaceae family. Some R2R3-type MYB (myeloblastosis) transcription factors (TFs) control GSL biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. However, studies on the MYB TFs involved in GSL biosynthesis in Brassica species are limited because of the complexity of the genome, which includes an increased number of paralog genes as a result of genome duplication. The recent completion of the genome sequencing of the Brassica species permits the identification of MYB TFs involved in GSL biosynthesis by comparative genome analysis with A. thaliana. In this review, we describe various findings on the regulation of GSL biosynthesis in Brassicaceae. Furthermore, we identify 63 orthologous copies corresponding to five MYB TFs from Arabidopsis, except MYB76 in Brassica species. Fifty-five MYB TFs from the Brassica species possess a conserved amino acid sequence in their R2R3 MYB DNA-binding domain, and share close evolutionary relationships. Our analysis will provide useful information on the 55 MYB TFs involved in the regulation of GSL biosynthesis in Brassica species, which have a polyploid genome [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucosinolates (GSL) are naturally occurring β-d-thioglucosides found across the cruciferous vegetables. Core structure formation and side-chain modifications lead to the synthesis of more than 200 types of GSLs in Brassicaceae. Isothiocyanates (ITCs) are chemoprotectives produced as the hydrolyzed product of GSLs by enzyme myrosinase. Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) and sulforaphane ([1-isothioyanato-4-(methyl-sulfinyl) butane], SFN) are potential ITCs with efficient therapeutic properties. Beneficial role of BITC, PEITC and SFN was widely studied against various cancers such as breast, brain, blood, bone, colon, gastric, liver, lung, oral, pancreatic, prostate and so forth. Nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) is a key transcription factor limits the tumor progression. Induction of ARE (antioxidant responsive element) and ROS (reactive oxygen species) mediated pathway by Nrf2 controls the activity of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB). NF-κB has a double edged role in the immune system. NF-κB induced during inflammatory is essential for an acute immune process. Meanwhile, hyper activation of NF-κB transcription factors was witnessed in the tumor cells. Antagonistic activity of BITC, PEITC and SFN against cancer was related with the direct/indirect interaction with Nrf2 and NF-κB protein. All three ITCs able to disrupts Nrf2-Keap1 complex and translocate Nrf2 into the nucleus. BITC have the affinity to inhibit the NF-κB than SFN due to the presence of additional benzyl structure. This review will give the overview on chemo preventive of ITCs against several types of cancer cell lines. We have also discussed the molecular interaction(s) of the antagonistic effect of BITC, PEITC and SFN with Nrf2 and NF-κB to prevent cancer.

Glucosinolates are anti-carcinogenic, anti-oxidative biochemical compounds that defend plants from insect and microbial attack. Glucosinolates are abundant in all cruciferous crops, including all vegetable and oilseed Brassica species. Here, we studied the expression of glucosinolate biosynthesis genes and determined glucosinolate contents in the edible organs of a total of 12 genotypes of Brassica oleracea: three genotypes each from cabbage, kale, kohlrabi and cauliflower subspecies. Among the 81 genes analyzed by RT-PCR, 19 are transcription factor-related, two different sets of 25 genes are involved in aliphatic and indolic biosynthesis pathways and the rest are breakdown-related. The expression of glucosinolate-related genes in the stems of kohlrabi was remarkably different compared to leaves of cabbage and kale and florets of cauliflower as only eight genes out of 81 were expressed in the stem tissues of kohlrabi. In the stem tissue of kohlrabi, only one aliphatic transcription factor-related gene, Bol036286 (MYB28) and one indolic transcription factor-related gene, Bol030761 (MYB51), were expressed. The results indicated the expression of all genes is not essential for glucosinolate biosynthesis. Using HPLC analysis, a total of 16 different types of glucosinolates were identified in four subspecies, nine of them were aliphatic, four of them were indolic and one was aromatic. Cauliflower florets measured the highest number of 14 glucosinolates. Among the aliphatic glucosinolates, only gluconapin was found in the florets of cauliflower. Glucoiberverin and glucobrassicanapin contents were the highest in the stems of kohlrabi. The indolic methoxyglucobrassicin and aromatic gluconasturtiin accounted for the highest content in the florets of cauliflower. A further detailed investigation and analyses is required to discern the precise roles of each of the genes for aliphatic and indolic glucosinolate biosynthesis in the edible organs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brassicaceae plants are of great interest for human consumption due to their wide variety and nutritional qualities. Of the more than 4000 species that make up this family, about a hundred varieties of 6–8 genera are extensively cultivated. One of the most interesting aspects is its high content of glucosinolates, which are plant secondary metabolites with widely demonstrated anti-oncogenic properties that make them healthy. The most relevant Brassicaceae studies related to food and melatonin are examined in this paper. The role of melatonin as a beneficial agent in seedling grown mainly in cabbage and rapeseed and in the postharvest preservation of broccoli is especially analyzed. The beneficial effect of melatonin treatments on the organoleptic properties of these commonly consumed vegetables can be of great interest in the agri-food industry. Melatonin application extends the shelf life of fresh-cut broccoli while maintaining optimal visual and nutritional parameters. In addition, an integrated model indicating the role of melatonin on the organoleptic properties, the biosynthesis of glucosinolates and the regulatory action of these health-relevant compounds with anti-oncogenic activity is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucosinolates (GSLs) are important precursor compounds with anticancer activities in Brassicaceae vegetables and are readily hydrolyzed by myrosinase. Given the diversity of these species, establishing an accurate and universal method to quantify intact GSLs in different plant tissues is necessary. Here, we compared and optimized three tissue disruption methods for sample preparation. After microwave treatment for 90 s, 13 GSLs in homogenized Chinese cabbage samples were recovered at 73–124%. However, a limitation of this method was that different tissues could not be processed under the same microwave conditions. Regarding universality, GSLs in Brassicaceae vegetables could be extracted from freeze-dried sample powder with 70% methanol (v/v) or frozen-fresh sample powder with 80% methanol (v/v). Moreover, heating extraction is necessary for GSLs extracted from frozen-fresh sample powder. Average recoveries of the two optimized methods were 74–119% with relative standard deviations ≤ 15%, with the limits of quantification 5.72–17.40 nmol/g dry weight and 0.80–1.43 nmol/g fresh weight, respectively. Notably, the method for analyzing intact GSLs was more efficient than that for desulfo-GSLs regarding operational complexity, detection speed and quantification accuracy. The developed method was applied to identify the characteristic GSLs in 15 Brassicaceae vegetables, providing a foundation for further research on GSLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brassicaceae baby-leaves are good source of functional phytochemicals. To investigate how Chinese kale and pak-choi baby-leaves in response to different wavebands of blue (430 nm and 465 nm) and UV-A (380 nm and 400 nm) LED, the plant growth, glucosinolates, antioxidants, and minerals were determined. Both agronomy traits and phytochemical contents were significantly affected. Blue and UV-A light played a predominant role in increasing the plant biomass and morphology, as well as the contents of antioxidant compounds (vitamin C, vitamin E, phenolics, and individual flavonols), the antioxidant activity (DPPH and FRAP), and the total glucosinolates accumulation. In particular, four light wavebands significantly decreased the content of progoitrin, while 400 nm UV-A light and 430 nm blue light were efficient in elevating the contents of sinigrin and glucobrassicin in Chinese kale. Meanwhile, 400 nm UV-A light was able to increase the contents of glucoraphanin, sinigrin, and glucobrassicin in pak-choi. From the global view of heatmap, blue lights were more efficient in increasing the yield and phytochemical levels of two baby-leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop. is a wild common plant of the Brassicaceae family. It is known as "the singers' plant" for its traditional use in treating aphonia and vocal disability. Despite its wide use in herbal preparations, the molecular mechanism of action of S. officinale extracts is not known. The plant is rich in glucosinolates and isothiocyanates, which are supposed to be its active compounds. Some members of this family, in particular allylisothiocyanate, are strong agonists of the transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) channel, which is involved in the somatosensory perception of pungency as well as in the nociception pathway of inflammatory pain. This study aims to isolate the glucosinolates and isothiocianates from fresh S. officinale to identify the major components and test their activity in in vitro assays with a cloned TRPA1 channel. Samples of cultivated S. officinale have been extracted and the active compounds isolated by column chromatography, HPLC and PTLC. The main components glucoputranjivin, isopropylisothiocyanate and 2-buthylisothiocianate have been tested on TRPA1. The glucosinolates glucoputranjivin and sinigrin turned out to be inactive, while isopropylisothiocyanate and 2-buthylisothiocyanate are potent agonists of TRPA1, with an EC50 in the range of the high potency natural agonists identified so far for this somatosensory channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bunias erucago belongs to the Brassicaceae family, which represents a forgotten crop of the Euro-Mediterranean area. The aim of the present study was to determine the glucosinolate profile in different plant parts and biological properties (antioxidant, anticholinesterase, and cytotoxic activities) of the isolates containing glucosinolate breakdown products. The chemical profiles were determined by using HPLC-PDA-MS/MS of desulfoglucosinolates and GC-MS of glucosinolate degradation products. The analysis of B. erucago showed the presence of seven glucosinolates: gluconapin (1), glucoraphasatin (2), glucoraphenin (3), glucoerucin (4), glucoraphanin (5), glucotropaeolin (6), and glucosinalbin (7). The total glucosinolate content ranged from 7.0 to 14.6 µmol/g of dry weight, with the major glucosinolate glucosinalbin in all parts. The antioxidant activity of all volatile isolates was not notable. At a tested concentration of 227 μg/mL, flower hydro-distillate (FH) showed good AChE inhibition, i.e., 40.9%, while root hydro-distillate (RH) had good activity against BChE, i.e., 54.3%. FH showed the best activity against both tested human bladder cancer cell lines, i.e., against T24 after 72 h, which have IC50 of 16.0 μg/mL, and against TCCSUP after 48 h with IC50 of 7.8 μg/mL, and can be considered as highly active. On the other hand, RH showed weak activity against tested cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Eruca sativa Mill. is a good source of glucosinolates (GLS), phenolic compounds and unsaturated fatty acids, being a valuable material for the production of functional-foods or nutraceutical ingredients. Extraction by supercritical CO2 (SCO2) can be used and the limitations due to the apolar nature of CO2 can be overcome using co-solvents. In this paper different cosolvents and conditions were used for SCO2 extraction and the composition of the obtained extracts was studied by LC-MS. Results: Water resulted the ideal co-solvent, allowing the extraction of glucosinolates in comparable amounts to the classical procedure with boiling water, as it can be carried out at mild temperatures (45 °C vs. >100 °C). Increasing the pressure improved the GLS extraction. On the other hand polyphenol extraction under the studied conditions was not influenced by pressure and temperature variations. The in vitro antioxidant effect of the obtained extracts was also measured, showing significant activity in the DPPH and FC tests. Conclusions: The GLS, flavonoids and lipids composition of the obtained extracts was studied, showing the presence of numerous antioxidant constituents useful for nutraceutical applications. The extraction method using SCO2 and water as co-solvent presents advantages in terms of safety because these solvents are generally recognised as safe. Water as cosolvent at 8% resulted useful for the extraction of both glucosinolates and phenolics in good amount and is environmentally acceptable as well as safe for food production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucoraphasatin (GRH), a glucosinolate present abundantly in the plants of the Brassicaceae family, is hydrolyzed by myrosinase to raphasatin, which is considered responsible for its cancer chemopreventive activity; however, the underlying mechanisms of action have not been investigated, particularly in human cell lines. The aims of this study are to determine the cytotoxicity of raphasatin, and to evaluate its potential to cause apoptosis and modulate cell cycle arrest in human breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cells. The cytotoxicity was determined following incubation of the cells with glucoraphasatin or raphasatin (0–100 µM), for 24, 48, and 72 h. GRH displayed no cytotoxicity as exemplified by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. When myrosinase was added to the incubation system to convert GRH to raphasatin, cytotoxicity was evident. Exposure of the cells to raphasatin stimulated apoptosis, as was exemplified by cell shrinkage, membrane blebbing, chromatin condensation, and nuclear fragmentation. Moreover, using Annexin V-FITC assay, raphasatin induced apoptosis, as witnessed by changes in cellular distribution of cells, at different stages of apoptosis; in addition, raphasatin caused the arrest of the MCF-7 cells at the G2 + M phase. In conclusion, raphasatin demonstrated cancer chemopreventive potential against human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cells, through induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glucosinolates (GSL) are naturally occurring β-d-thioglucosides found across the cruciferous vegetables. Core structure formation and side-chain modifications lead to the synthesis of more than 200 types of GSLs in Brassicaceae. Isothiocyanates (ITCs) are chemoprotectives produced as the hydrolyzed product of GSLs by enzyme myrosinase. Benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC), phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) and sulforaphane ([1-isothioyanato-4-(methyl-sulfinyl) butane], SFN) are potential ITCs with efficient therapeutic properties. Beneficial role of BITC, PEITC and SFN was widely studied against various cancers such as breast, brain, blood, bone, colon, gastric, liver, lung, oral, pancreatic, prostate and so forth. Nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2 (Nrf2) is a key transcription factor limits the tumor progression. Induction of ARE (antioxidant responsive element) and ROS (reactive oxygen species) mediated pathway by Nrf2 controls the activity of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB). NF-κB has a double edged role in the immune system. NF-κB induced during inflammatory is essential for an acute immune process. Meanwhile, hyper activation of NF-κB transcription factors was witnessed in the tumor cells. Antagonistic activity of BITC, PEITC and SFN against cancer was related with the direct/indirect interaction with Nrf2 and NF-κB protein. All three ITCs able to disrupts Nrf2-Keap1 complex and translocate Nrf2 into the nucleus. BITC have the affinity to inhibit the NF-κB than SFN due to the presence of additional benzyl structure. This review will give the overview on chemo preventive of ITCs against several types of cancer cell lines. We have also discussed the molecular interaction(s) of the antagonistic effect of BITC, PEITC and SFN with Nrf2 and NF-κB to prevent cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]