Accumulation of Glucosinolates in Broccoli

Abstract

Broccoli is a rich source of health-promoting antioxidants and anticarcinogenic glucosinolates, which has long been recognized for their outstanding benefits to human nutrition and plant defense. The composition and content of glucosinolate are closely associated with the flavor and anticancer activity of broccoli. Up to now, broccoli is among a few Brassica vegetables, in which the biosynthetic pathway of glucosinolate has been widely studied and has attracted extensive attention. Recent studies in glucosinolate research have also identified the genetic variations, as well as the functions of individual glucosinolate profiles and their degradation products in broccoli, which provide the basic aims and powerful strategies for breeding of broccoli varieties with optimal glucosinolate composition and content. To fully exploit the potentially beneficial effects of broccoli, it is important to investigate the glucosinolate variation and metabolism across the whole food chain, from preharvest production to post-harvest storage, processing, and cooking. This chapter provides a general overview of glucosinolate biosynthetic pathway, as well as the genetic variation and function of individual glucosinolate profiles in broccoli, highlights the recent advances in glucosinolate accumulation of broccoli upon different preharvest and post-harvest handlings, and discusses their potential application in broccoli breeding,

Determination of glucosinolates in broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) by combining mid‐infrared (MIR) spectroscopy with chemometrics

“…High standard deviation (SD) was observed in the samples of Beneforte® broccoli, a variety reported to have high GRA content (Traka et al ., 2013). Most of the samples ranged between 200 and 600 mg/100 g DW, where similar GRA content was reported by other authors (Miao et al ., 2017; Li et al ., 2021). The second most dominant GSL was GB with a range of 10–540 mg/100 g DW and a mean of 189 ± 116 mg/100 g DW.…”

Glucosinolates, a natural chemical arsenal: More to tell than the myrosinase story

“…Several biological activities, such as antioxidants, antimicrobials, anti-proliferative, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory agents have been attributed to glucosinolates and their hydrolysis products ( Heldt and Piechulla, 2011 ). Glucosinolates are secondary metabolites naturally produced in response to biotic stress in Brassicaceae plants ( Miao et al, 2017 ). The biological activity of glucosinolates is mainly dependent on their class or origin and conditions of their hydrolysis ( Griffiths et al, 1998 ; Aires et al, 2009a ).…”

Assessment of Methodological Pipelines for the Determination of Isothiocyanates Derived from Natural Sources

“…Afterwards, SFN extraction was performed by utilizing dichloromethane at room temperature and reconstituting the concentrated extracts in acetone prior to determination of the SFN content [155,156]. In some cases, it has been reported that a step prior to hydrolysis is added where glucoraphane is isolated and incubated with 2-(N-morpholino) ethanesulfonic instead of acidic water [148,158]. In a recent study, SFN isolation (from broccoli) was attempted by solid-phase extraction, with the aim to examine the different factors that can potentially affect the extraction process [139].…”