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BackgroundThe human gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota is increasingly linked to health outcomes; however, our understanding of how specific foods alter the microbiota is limited. Cruciferous vegetab...

BACKGROUND Spray treatment of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) has been shown to increase glucosinolate (GS) concentrations and health-promoting activity in Brassica vegetables. Since there is no reported standardized protocol, several MeJA treatment studies have been conducted to maximize human health bioactivity using the F1 broccoli cultivar ‘Green Magic’. RESULTS Foliar MeJA application 4 days prior to harvest of broccoli at commercial maturity resulted in enhanced total GS concentrations. Although a single application of 250 µmol L−1 MeJA maximized GS concentrations in broccoli florets, two days of consecutive treatments (4 and 3 days prior to harvest) of 250 µmol L−1 MeJA further enhanced neoglucobrassicin concentrations and floret extract quinone reductase (QR)-inducing activity. With increasing concentrations of MeJA in spray applications to broccoli florets, concentrations of the glucosinolates glucoraphanin, gluconasturtiin and neoglucobrassicin and the isothiocyanate sulforaphane as well as anticancer and anti-inflammatory bioactivities as measured by QR induction and inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production respectively were significantly increased. Concentrations of these phytochemicals showed strong positive correlations with QR-inducing and NO-inhibitory activities. CONCLUSION These application protocols were found to maximize GS and GS hydrolysis product concentrations and putatively enhance the health-promoting properties of broccoli heads for consumers. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry

Frozen broccoli can provide a cheaper product, with a longer shelf life and less preparation time than fresh broccoli. We previously showed that several commercially available frozen broccoli products do not retain the ability to generate the cancer-preventative agent sulforaphane. We hypothesized that this was because the necessary hydrolyzing enzyme myrosinase was destroyed during blanching, as part of the processing that frozen broccoli undergoes. This study was carried out to determine a way to overcome loss of hydrolyzing activity. Industrial blanching usually aims to inactivate peroxidase, although lipoxygenase plays a greater role in product degradation during frozen storage of broccoli. Blanching at 86 °C or higher inactivated peroxidase, lipoxygenase, and myrosinase. Blanching at 76 °C inactivated 92% of lipoxygenase activity, whereas there was only an 18% loss in myrosinase-dependent sulforaphane formation. We considered that thawing frozen broccoli might disrupt membrane integrity, allowing myrosinase and glucoraphanin to come into contact. Thawing frozen broccoli for 9 h did not support sulforaphane formation unless an exogenous source of myrosinase was added. Thermal stability studies showed that broccoli root, as a source of myrosinase, was not more heat stable than broccoli floret. Daikon radish root supported some sulforaphane formation even when heated at 125 °C for 10 min, a time and temperature comparable to or greater than microwave cooking. Daikon radish (0.25%) added to frozen broccoli that was then allowed to thaw supported sulforaphane formation without any visual alteration to that of untreated broccoli.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether frequent cooked broccoli intake can modify the composition and metabolism of gut microbiota, specifically if broccoli feeding improves the ability of...

Westernized eating habits, high in dietary fat and refined carbohydrate (CHO), are thought to play an important role in the increased prevalence of obesity world-wide. Obesity and associated inflam...

Correspondence to: Michael D. Shelby, PhD, NIEHS EC-32, PO Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. E-mail: shelby@niehs.nih.gov ‡Dr. Kesner was unable to participate in the Expert Panel meeting but participated in the drafting and review of the report before and after the meeting. Following the Expert Panel meeting, some panel members reconsidered research needs 2–5 (Drs. Bhatia, Calafat, Flaws, Hansen, Hoyer, Jeffery, Rozman, Thomas) or research need 2 alone (Dr. Marty) and concluded that they/it would not be critical to a future evaluation of genistein. †This article is a U.S. Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) established the NTP Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction (CERHR) in June 1998. The purpose of the Center is to provide timely, unbiased, scientifically sound evaluations of human and experimental evidence for adverse effects on reproduction and development caused by agents to which humans may be exposed.

Flavor and glucosinolate contents of multiple broccoli cultivars (Brassica oleracea var. italica) were compared to determine whether a relationship existed between sensory and chemical attributes. Glucosinolates have been associated with the anticarcinogenic activity and flavor of cruciferous vegetables. A trained sensory descriptive panel developed 19 descriptive terms for aroma and flavor attributes and evaluated 19 broccoli cultivars. All 19 genotypes were assayed for individual and total glucosinolate content by HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography). Broccoli varieties differed significantly in their sensory and glucosinolate profiles. Using correlation and principal component analysis, we found little evidence that the glucosinolates were responsible for the distinctive flavor notes of broccoli.

Camelina sativa L. Crantz is under development as a novel oil seed crop yet there are few studies about the bioefficacy of camelina. Camelina seed meal contains several potentially bioactive compou...

Our objective was to determine whether steam blanching, storage and preparation affected concentrations of sulforaphane (SF), sulforaphane nitrile (SFN), cyanohydroxybutene (CHB), iberin (I) or iberin nitrile (IN) in fresh and frozen broccoli. Broccoli (var. “Arcadia”) was grown in St. Charles, IL over three seasons. Samples were steam blanched (2 min at 93 ± 5°C) within 24h of harvest, frozen and stored at −20°C up to 90 days, and fresh broccoli was stored at 4°C up to 21 days. Samples were analyzed uncooked or microwave cooked. SF, SFN, I, IN and CHB were determined by GC in dichloromethane extracts from lyophilized samples. Rates of loss for CHB and SF were similar during storage of fresh broccoli. Blanching, storage, and microwave cooking decreased (p < 0.01) concentrations of each compound in fresh and frozen broccoli.