Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L.var) is a brassica genus plant,which is a member of the Brassicaceae family. It is well-known that broccoli is a kind of healthy vegetables with anti-cancer effect. Scientific researches showed that this is because of the 'natural anti-cancer factor' - sulforaphane, which is the strongest anti-cancer bioactive component in all natural anti-cancer fruits and vegetables so far. 

Sulforaphane (SFN) does not exist intact in vegetables but is formed from glucoraphanin after hydrolysis with myrosinase or human intestinal enzymes. Glucoraphanin is found in many Brassicaceae plants, but is most abundant in broccoli seeds. In 1997, Professor Talalay's research team found that broccoli sprouts contained high level of sulforaphane, at least 20 times higher than mature broccoli. If you want to get sulforaphane you have two choices: (1) Getting glucoraphanin, whcih hydrolyzed into sulforaphane under the action of myrosinase or human intestinal enzymes; (2) Eating broccoli sprout which is rich in sulforaphane.


In 1992, Professor Talalay of Johns Hopkins University isolated sulforaphane from broccoli and confirmed that it is the inducer of phase II detoxification enzymes.In 1994, Nrf2, a transcription factor sensitive to REDOX response in cells, was first discovered. Sulforaphane is through activation of Nrf2, open the human self protection mechanisms to achieve the body's immune defense of full swing. Sulforaphane become a research focus of biomedical. So far, the world numerous basic experimental studies and clinical trials have demonstrated that sulforaphane has good prevention and auxiliary treatment effect on almost all cancers including breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer and so on. At the same time, sulforaphane also has a positive effect on the prevention and treatments of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neuropsychiatric diseases and metabolic syndrome caused by obesity.


In 2001, glucoraphanin from broccoli seeds, was first used in dietary supplements, functional foods and green tea in the United States. 

In 2016, glucoraphanin extracted from broccoli seeds, received GRAS approval from the FDA.

In 2017, aqueous extract of seed of broccoli containing 13-20% glucoraphanin was officially approved as a new food raw material by the National Health Commission of China. At present, there are two kinds of broccoli seed extracts: glucoraphanin and sulforaphane, which are mainly used in foods, health products and cosmetics. Due to the high commercialization of health care products, Europe and North America have become the main markets of broccoli seed extract in the world. The Asia Pacific region has the highest growth rate in the global market and it’s the most potential market in the future. 


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