In recent years, broccoli has gained a reputation as an excellent vegetable due to its high levels of particularly beneficial compounds called sulforaphane.
It is no wonder in some studies showing how this compound plays a role in glycemic control, as it has potentially even anticancer benefits. Broccoli Pills It’s increasing.
But a Previous research has shown Eating whole vegetables brings more sulforaphane than taking supplements. That’s why a team of researchers from China decided to find the best way to cook broccoli.
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They arrived at the clear winner, publishing Their results In 2018 Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry – But if you have something to do with your time, it’s a tough sell.
But there’s a way behind the insanity. Sulforaphane is not only seated in small broccoli flowers, but is ready to consume. Instead, vegetables contain several compounds called glucosinolates.
It also contains enzymes Myrosinaseplants have evolved to protect themselves from herbivores. Glucosinoleate is converted to sulforaphane through what is known as “myrosinase activity.”
You’d think cooking would do the trick, as you’ll need to damage the broccoli to kick myrosinase activity.
Unfortunately, common methods of cooking broccoli such as boiling and microwaves are serious. reduce The amount of glucosinolates in vegetables – even if only Zap for a few minutes. Myrosinase is also heat sensitive.
Therefore, the maximum amount of sulforaphane you can get from broccoli is munching on raw florets. Hmm.
This made a team of researchers think about the outcome of stir-fry, the single most popular way to prepare vegetables in China.
“Amazingly, there are few ways to report sulforaphane concentrations in broccoli stir-fry. To our knowledge, no reports focus on the stability of sulforaphane in the stirring process.” Beware of their research.
The team purchased bundles of broccoli from a local market and was planning to work, measuring the level of vegetable compounds.
First, they can basically grind the broccoli and cut it into 2 mm pieces to get as much myrosinase activity as possible (don’t forget that activity occurs when the broccoli is damaged).
They then split the sample into three groups. One was left raw, one was chop and fry for 4 minutes, and three were chop and left for 90 minutes before stirring for 4 minutes.
The 90-minute wait period was to see if there was more time to develop beneficial compounds before the broccoli was cooked lightly.
And that’s exactly what the team found. The quickly fried broccoli had 2.8 times less sulforaphane than what was left to “develop” longer.
“Our results suggest that after cutting small broccoli flowers into small pieces, they should be left for about 90 minutes before cooking.” The team writesthey didn’t test it, but added that they thought “half hour would help.”
But we don’t know if we are willing to commit to all of that effort. The team says they are looking for ways to reduce the chopping they need, so they just look at this space or eat raw broccoli.
This study was published in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
An earlier version of this article was published in February 2018.
