Broccoli is Manmade

November 12, 2010 at 1:00 am Chad Upton

By Chad Upton | Editor

The word broccoli is the plural form of broccolo (Italian), which refers to “the flowering top of cabbage.” Of course, that’s because Broccoli is from the same family as cabbage. Kale, closely related to wild cabbage, was carefully bred into a variety of vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower over a period of 2000 years.

Broccoli is kind of a super vegetable since it contains a ton of lutein, arguably the most important source of vitamin A in the human diet (which is also found in kale and spinach).

So, even if you are genetically predisposed to dislike broccoli, you could try some other popular vegetables in the same family: cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, rapeseed, radish and horseradish.

Broken Secrets

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Photo: Rick Harris (cc)

Sources: Indiana Public Media, Science Daily, Wikipedia (Broccoli, Brassica, Brassicaceae, Cruciferous, Kale, Phenylthiocarbamide)

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Entry filed under: Food and Drink, History and Origins. Tags: broccoli, broccolo, cabbage, vegetable.