Sprouting Broccoli (nee Curly Kale).

I think this is sprouting broccoli. The reason I’m not sure is that someone gave it to me already growing and told me it was sprouting broccoli. It will become more obvious when they have grown a little.

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Update: 29 May, 2007

Turns out it is Curly Kale. Not my favourite as you have to catch it very early otherwise the leaves are quite fibrous and tough to eat. It is also good for bugs to hide in, so you have to wash it well before cooking it. Of course, some of you may like to eat the creepy crawlies from the garden, but not me.

However, there are plenty of nutrients in Curly Kale:

Health Benefits (from whfoods/)

As a member of the Brassica genus of foods, kale is a great food if you’re looking to sustain your health and enjoy a delicious food at the same time. It’s the organosulfur compounds in this food that have been main subject of phytonutrient research, and these include the glucosinolates and the methyl cysteine sulfoxides. Although there are over 100 different glucosinolates in plants, only 10-15 are present in kale and other Brassicas. Yet these 10-15 glucosinolates appear able to lessen the occurrence of a wide variety of cancers, including breast and ovarian cancers.

Exactly how kale’s sulfur-containing phytonutrients prevent cancer is not yet clear, but several researchers point to the ability of its glucosinolates and cysteine sulfoxides to activate detoxifing enzymes in the liver that help neutralize potentially carcinogenic substances. (These detoxifying enzymes include quinone reductases and glutathione-S-transferases). For example, scientists have found that sulforaphane, a potent glucosinolate phytonutrient found in kale and other Brassica vegetables, boosts the body’s detoxification enzymes, potentially by altering gene expression, thus helping to clear potentially carcinogenic substances more quickly. Sulforaphane, which is formed when cruciferous vegetables such as kale are chopped or chewed, triggers the liver to produce enzymes that detoxify cancer-causing chemicals, inhibits chemically-induced breast cancers in animal studies, induces colon cancer cells to commit suicide.

Sulforaphane may also offer special protection to those with colon cancer-susceptible genes, suggests a study conducted at Rutgers University and published online in the journal Carcinogenesis.

In this study, researchers sought to learn whether sulforaphane could inhibit cancers arising from one’s genetic makeup. Rutgers researchers Ernest Mario, Ah-Ng Tony Kong and colleagues used laboratory animals bred with a genetic mutation that switches off the tumor suppressor gene known as APC, the same gene that is inactivated in the majority of human colon cancers. Animals with this mutation spontaneously develop intestinal polyps, the precursors to colon cancer. The study found that animals who were fed sulforaphane had tumors that were smaller, grew more slowly and had higher apoptotic (cell suicide) indices. Additionally, those fed a higher dose of sulforaphane had less risk of developing polyps than those fed a lower dose. The researchers found that sulforaphane suppressed enzymes called kinases that are expressed not only in animals, but also in humans, with colon cancer. According to lead researcher, Dr. Kong, “Our study corroborates the notion that sulforaphane has chemopreventive activity?Our research has substantiated the connection between diet and cancer prevention, and it is now clear that the expression of cancer-related genes can be influenced by chemopreventive compounds in the things we eat.”