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Brassica oleracea var. italica
Also called Sprouting broccoli, Cabbage, Wild Cabbage, Kale, Chou Mollier, Haria, Kohlrabi
Broccoli is a cool-season annual vegetable in the cabbage family, grown for its dark green flower heads and thick edible stem. It grows best in mild weather and bolts or forms poor heads in hot summers.
Broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica) is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus Brassica) whose large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable. Broccoli is classified in the Italica cultivar group of the species Brassica oleracea. Broccoli has large flower heads, or florets, usually dark green, arranged in a tree-like structure branching out from a thick stalk, which is usually light green. Leaves surround the mass of flower heads. Broccoli resembles cauliflower, a different but closely related cultivar group of the same Brassica species.
It can be eaten either raw or cooked. Broccoli is a particularly rich source of vitamin C and vitamin K.
The majority of broccoli cultivars are cool-weather crops that grow poorly in hot summer weather. Broccoli grows best in an average daily temperature range of 54–68 °F (12–20 °C). When the cluster of flowers (also referred to as a "head") appears in the plant center, the cluster is generally green. Garden pruners or shears are used to cut the head about 25 mm (1 in) from the tip.
The growth of the broccoli head is temperature dependent, with higher temperatures leading to poorer head formation, while growth slows below 41 °F (5 °C). The specific response of broccoli to long-term heat-stress conditions, such as may occur with climate change, remain undetermined.
Raw broccoli is 89% water, 7% carbohydrates, 3% protein, and contains negligible fat (table). A 100-gram (3+1⁄2-ounce) reference amount of raw broccoli provides 141 kilojoules (34 kilocalories) of food energy and is a rich source (20% or higher of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin C (99% DV) and vitamin K (85% DV) (table). Raw broccoli also contains moderate amounts (10–19% DV) of several B vitamins and the dietary mineral potassium, whereas other micronutrients are low in content (less than 10% DV). Broccoli contains the dietary provitamin A carotenoid, beta-carotene.
Abyssinian mustard · Mustard · Zha cai · India mustard · Rutabaga · Rapeseed · Tatsoi · Rhamphospermum nigrum · Gai lan · Cauliflower · Cabbage · Brussels sprout
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Broccoli by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
