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Glucoraphanin
Glucoraphanin is a glucosinolate found in broccoli, mustard and other cruciferous vegetables. Glucoraphanin is converted to sulforaphane by the enzyme myrosinase. In plants, sulforaphane deters insect predators and acts as a selective antibiotic. Synthesis Glucoraphanin is derived from dihomomethionine, which is methionine chain-elongated twice. The methyl sulfinyl group attached to the five-carbon chain (or four-carbon chain in sulforaphane) is chiral, and has the R configuration. This comes about when 4-methylthiobutylglucosinolate has an oxygen atom added by a flavin monooxygenase. Research Sulforaphane and other isothiocyanates have been studied for their potential biological effects. The isothiocyanates formed from glucosinolates are under laboratory research to assess the expression and activation of enzymes that metabolize xenobiotics, such as carcinogens. Observational studies have been conducted to determine if consumption of cruciferous vegetables affects cancer r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sulforaphane
Sulforaphane (sometimes sulphoraphane in British English) is a compound within the isothiocyanate group of organosulfur compounds. It is produced when the enzyme myrosinase transforms glucoraphanin, a glucosinolate, into sulforaphane upon damage to the plant (such as from chewing or chopping during food preparation), which allows the two compounds to mix and react. Sulforaphane is present in cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. Occurrence and isolation Sulforaphane occurs in broccoli sprouts, which, among cruciferous vegetables, have the highest concentration of glucoraphanin, the precursor to sulforaphane. It is also found in cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, kale, collards, mustard greens, and watercress. Research Although there has been some basic research on how sulforaphane might have effects ''in vivo'', there is no clinical evidence that consuming cruciferous vegetables and sulforaphane affects the risk of cancer or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glucosinolate
Glucosinolates are natural components of many pungent plants such as mustard, cabbage, and horseradish. The pungency of those plants is due to mustard oils produced from glucosinolates when the plant material is chewed, cut, or otherwise damaged. These natural chemicals most likely contribute to plant defence against pests and diseases, and impart a characteristic bitter flavor property to cruciferous vegetables. Plants with glucosinolates Glucosinolates occur as secondary metabolites of almost all plants of the order Brassicales. Ordered in the Brassicales are for example the economically important family Brassicaceae as well as Capparaceae and Caricaceae. Outside of the Brassicales, the genera ''Drypetes'' and ''Putranjiva'' in the family Putranjivaceae, are the only other known occurrence of glucosinolates. Glucosinolates occur in various edible plants such as cabbage (white cabbage, Chinese cabbage, broccoli), Brussels sprouts, watercress, horseradish, capers, and radishes wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isothiocyanate
In organic chemistry, isothiocyanate is the functional group , formed by substituting the oxygen in the isocyanate group with a sulfur. Many natural isothiocyanates from plants are produced by enzymatic conversion of metabolites called glucosinolates. These natural isothiocyanates, such as allyl isothiocyanate, are also known as mustard oils. An artificial isothiocyanate, phenyl isothiocyanate, is used for amino acid sequencing in the Edman degradation. Cruciferous vegetables, such as bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and others, are rich sources of glucosinolate precursors of isothiocyanates. Although there has been some basic research on how isothiocyanates might exert biological effects ''in vivo'', there is no high-quality evidence to date for its efficacy against human diseases. Structure Typical bond angles for and linkages in aryl isothiocyanates are 165° and 177°, respectively. The and distances are 117 and 158 pms. Synthesis and reactions Isothiocy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glucosinolates
Glucosinolates are natural components of many pungency, pungent plants such as mustard plant, mustard, cabbage, and horseradish. The pungency of those plants is due to mustard oils produced from glucosinolates when the plant material is chewed, cut, or otherwise damaged. These natural chemicals most likely contribute to plant defence against pests and Plant disease resistance, diseases, and impart a characteristic bitter (taste), bitter flavor property to cruciferous vegetables. Plants with glucosinolates Glucosinolates occur as secondary metabolites of almost all plants of the order (biology), order Brassicales. Ordered in the Brassicales are for example the economically important family Brassicaceae as well as Capparaceae and Caricaceae. Outside of the Brassicales, the genus, genera ''Drypetes'' and ''Putranjiva'' in the family Putranjivaceae, are the only other known occurrence of glucosinolates. Glucosinolates occur in various edible plants such as cabbage (white cabbage, Chines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables are vegetables of the family Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae) with many genera, species, and cultivars being raised for food production such as cauliflower, cabbage, kale, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, mustard plant and similar green leaf vegetables. The family takes its alternative 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 in North America as cole crops and in the UK, Ireland and Australia as brassicas, are in a single species (''Brassica oleracea''); they are not distinguished from one another Taxonomy (biology), taxonomically, only by horticultural category of cultivar groups. Numerous other genus, 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 dietary fiber, soluble fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xenobiotic
A xenobiotic is a chemical substance found within an organism that is not naturally produced or expected to be present within the organism. It can also cover substances that are present in much higher concentrations than are usual. Natural compounds can also become xenobiotics if they are taken up by another organism, such as the uptake of natural human hormones by fish found downstream of sewage treatment plant outfalls, or the chemical defenses produced by some organisms as protection against predators. The term xenobiotics, however, is very often used in the context of pollutants such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls and their effect on the biota, because xenobiotics are understood as substances foreign to an entire biological system, i.e. artificial substances, which did not exist in nature before their synthesis by humans. The term xenobiotic is derived from the Greek words ξένος (xenos) = foreigner, stranger and βίος (bios) = life, plus the Greek suffix ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Cabbage
The red cabbage (purple-leaved varieties of ''Brassica oleracea'' Capitata Group) is a kind of cabbage, also known as Blaukraut after preparation. Its leaves are colored dark red/purple. However, the plant changes its color according to the pH value of the soil due to a pigment belonging to anthocyanins. In acidic soils, the leaves grow more reddish; in neutral soils, they will grow more purple, while an alkaline soil will produce rather greenish-yellow colored cabbages. This explains the fact that the same plant is known by different colors in various regions. It can be found in all of Europe, throughout the Americas, in China, and especially in Africa. The juice of red cabbage can be used as a homemade pH indicator, turning red in acid and green/yellow in basic solutions. When cooking, red cabbage will normally turn blue; adding vinegar or acidic fruit to the pot is necessary to retain the cabbage's red color. Red cabbage needs well-fertilized soil and sufficient humidity to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romanesco Broccoli
Romanesco broccoli (also known as Roman cauliflower, Broccolo Romanesco, Romanesque cauliflower, Romanesco or broccoflower) is an edible flower bud of the species ''Brassica oleracea''. It is chartreuse in color, and has a form naturally approximating a fractal. When compared to a traditional cauliflower, it has a firmer texture and delicate, nutty flavor. Description Romanesco superficially resembles a cauliflower, but it is chartreuse in color, with the form of a natural fractal. Nutritionally, romanesco is rich in vitamin C, vitamin K, dietary fiber, and carotenoids. Fractal structure The inflorescence (the bud) is self-similar in character, with the branched meristems making up a logarithmic spiral, giving a form approximating a natural fractal; each bud is composed of a series of smaller buds, all arranged in yet another logarithmic spiral. This self-similar pattern continues at smaller levels. The pattern is only an approximate fractal since the pattern eventually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Breeding
Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. It has been used to improve the quality of nutrition in products for humans and animals. The goals of plant breeding are to produce crop varieties that boast unique and superior traits for a variety of applications. The most frequently addressed agricultural traits are those related to biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, grain or biomass yield, end-use quality characteristics such as taste or the concentrations of specific biological molecules (proteins, sugars, lipids, vitamins, fibers) and ease of processing (harvesting, milling, baking, malting, blending, etc.). Plant breeding can be performed through many different techniques ranging from simply selecting plants with desirable characteristics for propagation, to methods that make use of knowledge of genetics and chromosomes, to more complex molecular techniques. Genes in a plant are what determine what type of qualit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultivar
A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, or carefully controlled seed production. Most cultivars arise from purposeful human manipulation, but some originate from wild plants that have distinctive characteristics. Cultivar names are chosen according to rules of the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP), and not all cultivated plants qualify as cultivars. Horticulturists generally believe the word ''cultivar''''Cultivar'' () has two meanings, as explained in ''Formal definition'': it is a classification category and a taxonomic unit within the category. When referring to a taxon, the word does not apply to an individual plant but to all plants that share the unique characteristics that define the cultivar. was coined as a term meaning "cultivated variety ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evidence-based Medicine
Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients". The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of the patient, and the best available scientific information to guide decision-making about clinical management. The term was originally used to describe an approach to teaching the practice of medicine and improving decisions by individual physicians about individual patients. Background, history and definition Medicine has a long history of scientific inquiry about the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human disease. The concept of a controlled clinical trial was first described in 1662 by Jan Baptist van Helmont in reference to the practice of bloodletting. Wrote Van Helmont: The first published report describing the conduct and results of a controlled clinical trial was by James Lind, a Scottish naval surgeon who conducted rese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Observational Study
In fields such as epidemiology, social sciences, psychology and statistics, an observational study draws inferences from a sample (statistics), sample to a statistical population, population where the dependent and independent variables, independent variable is not under the Scientific control, control of the researcher because of ethical concerns or logistical constraints. One common observational study is about the possible effect of a treatment on subjects, where the assignment of subjects into a treated group versus a control group is outside the control of the investigator. This is in contrast with experiments, such as randomized controlled trials, where each subject is Random assignment, randomly assigned to a treated group or a control group. Observational studies, for lacking an assignment mechanism, naturally present difficulties for inferential analysis. Motivation The independent variable may be beyond the control of the investigator for a variety of reasons: * A ran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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