Summary

The cruciferous family of vegetables includes some of the most nutritionally significant foods produced today. Predominantly European and Asian in origin, these vegetables have a history of cultivation and use that spans many centuries. The ancient Greeks and Romans employed some of them not only as foodstuffs but also for medicinal purposes. They believed that cabbage, for example, could cure a wide range of ailments, from healing wounds to correcting problems with internal organs. In medieval and Renaissance Europe as well as in Russia and China, cruciferous vegetables were found in kitchen gardens and composed an important part of the daily diet. Gradually they were transformed from garden produce into commercial crops and today are abundantly available for sustenance and for good health. Contemporary research suggests a link between cruciferous vegetables and disease prevention. Because of their high levels of vitamin C, beta-carotene, and other disease inhibitors, these food plants help avoid deficiency diseases, prevent some cancers, and retard the development of HIV in the human body. Such findings suggest that the consumption of cruciferous vegetables has a positive effect on health, and consequently they should have a prominent place in the human diet.

Robert C. Field

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