Generality
Broccoli are edible flowers of the herbaceous plant Brassica oleracea L., an Italic variety, belonging to the C rucifera family. They are also known with the name of cabbage-broccoli, since they belong to the category of the same name, although they differ considerably from most of the flowers of Brassica oleracea due to their typical green or purplish, more or less branchy appearance;
Broccoli originates from Asia Minor but, since its importation, has been the subject of Greek and Italic cultivation (especially in the south) since ancient times.
Broccoli has a delicate but not particularly structured flavor and is included in vegetables that are rarely accepted by younger guests.
Grow broccoli
Broccoli is easy to grow, both on the field and on small pieces, as long as special attention is paid to soil fertilization; broccoli are great exploiters of the earth and, as such, they need an early soil fattening (in autumn, with mature manure or dry manure or horn-bone-blood flour) and another contemporary production (with rock flour or macerated with nettle).
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| Nutritional composition Turnip broccoli, raw and Broccoli a head, raw (wording food composition tables - INRAN) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nutritional composition for 100 grams of edible portion Turnip broccoli (brassica rapa, cv esculenta), raw :
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Nutritional composition per 100 grams of edible portion Broccoli a head [brassica oleracea, cv botrytis caput], raw :
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Sowing takes place in the last days of April and in May / June the seedlings (appropriately spaced 50cm apart from each other) must be placed in the appropriate flowerbeds also in combination with celery. The profitability of broccoli is good because, even after cutting the flower, the plant (near the leaf axils) continues to produce it throughout the warm season (from July to October, depending on the qualities) and up to cold season (some types resist even at temperatures below 0). The flowers of the broccoli must be detached, or better cut, with about 8-10cm of stem (portion of the plant that, vaguely, remembers the asparagus to the taste), absolutely before they bloom, "otherwise" the edibility is compromised. Freshly picked broccoli lends itself well to freezing, preferably preceded by whitening (also called bleaching, it is a quick blanched that does not cook the food).
Broccoli quality
Quality broccoli must satisfy some visual criteria: NOT inflorescence, compactness, bright color (green and not yellow), green and turgid leaves (not yellow and withered) and intact stem (tender and not woody). If the broccoli satisfy these characteristics, in addition to being an excellent vegetable to be cooked, they are also excellent raw; other preparations are: boiled, baked au gratin, velouté, sautéed, as an accompanying sauce, in minestrone, etc.
Nutritional characteristics
Broccoli is a vegetable that belongs to both the VI and the VII group of foods, since it contains high amounts of vitamin C ( ascorbic acid ) and β-carotene ( retinol eq. - pro-vitamin A ); by virtue of these characteristics - as well as the relative content in phenolic substances (polyphenols), sulforaphane (a generically beneficial, anti-aging and highly antioxidant substance) and chlorophyll (antioxidant) - broccoli (preferably consumed raw) is a food that boasts anti-tumor characteristics .
From the saline point of view, broccoli provides excellent amounts of magnesium, phosphorus and iron; although the latter in a little bio-available form.
Broccoli is also an excellent source of dietary fiber, very useful for increasing satiety, for preventing and reducing the symptoms of constipation, for modulating glucose absorption, as a prebiotic and for reducing cholesterol absorption.
The broccoli fiber is particularly effective when cooked and blended in the preparation of soups with a velvety-type broth; in this way it is possible to partially break down and dilute the viscous fiber, amplifying the beneficial effect inside the digestive tract.
From an energy point of view, broccoli is not particularly energetic and is included in the average of vegetables, with a caloric density between 20 and 30kcal / 100g; proteins have a low biological value and qualitatively play a marginal role, fats are quantitatively scarce (even if mainly unsaturated) and carbohydrates are monosaccharide (fructose).
Unfortunately, broccoli is also rich in purines, a characteristic that EXCLUDES THEM TOTALLY from the diet for hyperuricemia or gout.
There is no lack of controversy over nitrate contamination (substances that can be converted into toxic metabolites: nitrites and nitrosamines) of broccoli, even if, to be honest, it is not the vegetables that contain the most; they are richer: lettuce, kohlrabi, cappuccino lettuce, watercress, chard, radish, horseradish, rhubarb, beetroot, spinach, turnip top, endive, fennel, kale, celery, white cabbage, savoy cabbage and courgette .
