Heart disease health centre
New 'super broccoli' going on sale
UK researchers have developed a new broccoli called Beneforté that’s better at preventing heart disease and cancer
Reviewed by Dr Keith David Barnard
4th October 2011 - A new type of broccoli is going on sale this week, developed by UK researchers to contain higher levels of the health maintaining phytonutrient glucoraphanin.Glucoraphanin is a biological precursor of the anti-cancer agent sulforaphane. It is found naturally in ordinary broccoli and is thought to help lower the risk of heart disease and some forms of cancer. Glucoraphanin may also promote antioxidant enzyme levels in the body.
Beneforté costs 50p more a pack than normal broccoli. It will soon be on the shelves of a major supermarket and will become more widely available next year.
Designer broccoli
Rather than going down the genetically modified route, scientists at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich and the John Innes Centre used traditional breeding techniques to grow Beneforté.The government-funded Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is paying for research into the health-giving properties of broccoli, sometimes called a 'superfood'.
The researchers used conventional breeding techniques to develop the new broccoli, which contains two to three times as much glucoraphanin than standard broccoli.
"The studies we've done have really been focussing on people who have a moderate risk of heart disease," Professor Richard Mithen of the Institute of Food Research tells us. However, he adds that the new veg is suitable for anyone: "I hope people will want to buy it. I think it's good for everyone. It has good flavour. It's a nice vegetable."
Not GM
No GM - or genetically modified - techniques were used to produce the new broccoli, Professor Mithen says: "This is just from normal, conventional breeding. We're always producing new varieties."Another example of specially bred fruit and veg are new, smaller types of tomatoes, he says: "Lots of them come from breeding with wild relatives for disease resistance and size, and this is exactly the same. We've bred the broccoli with just a wild brassica that came from Italy." The brassicas include not only broccoli, but Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale and kohlrabi.
Next steps
Now the new broccoli is heading for the shops, the professor's focus is on research into its health benefits. "We have done three human studies and we're just starting on a much larger one that will take three or four years to complete," he says. "Our emphasis is going to be gaining more evidence of the health benefits of this particular broccoli."How much broccoli do you have to eat to get health benefits from it? Professor Mithen says other research suggests it takes more than we eat now: "People who eat quite a lot of brassica vegetables, we're talking six or seven a week - a portion every day - they're gaining health benefits.
"Very few people in this country eat that amount of brassica vegetables. You may have them two or three times a week, but you wouldn't have them more than once a day."
That's where the new variety may help, he says: "This broccoli has the glucoraphanin equivalent to about two or three portions.”
Broccoli studies
Broccoli and cancer
"We do some studies with men with early signs of prostate cancer," Professor Mithen tells us, "It's always going to be very difficult to get conclusive evidence that any diet can really prevent cancer because of the length of time and the size of the studies you have to do."Studying heart health comes with easier ways to measure success, he says: "We can measure cholesterol, we can measure blood pressure.
"With cancer it's much more complicated. We are doing some studies. We work closely with our local hospital."
Taste test
What about the flavour of the new veg? "Some people say the taste is the same," Professor Mithen says, "Myself, my family and other people say the taste is better."You know if you cook cabbage and broccoli and those vegetables, you get those sulphurous, pungent odours? This has much less of those. We've taken the sulphur from those compounds and put it in the glucoraphanin. And the glucoraphanin doesn't have any effect on flavour or taste. I think most people will prefer it."
Is the professor a big broccoli lover, taking his work home with him? "The Beneforté? I might eat that occasionally, but normal broccoli? My family might eat that two or three times a week as part of a balanced diet with plenty of other fruit and vegetables." Also, he stresses: "Take some exercise, that's the way to stay healthy."
Reaction
Senior dietitian Victoria Taylor from the British Heart Foundation tells us: "I think we're probably going to see more and more of these kinds of foods coming on to the market. Although it is an interesting area, we're not even getting our 5-a-day at the moment and that's something we need to tackle."If people are looking at spending their money on fruit and vegetables, we'd probably want them to get more for their money, so they get their 5-a-day, rather than spending extra on one type of fruit or vegetable."
She agrees that more research is needed into what it is about fruit and veg that makes them healthy choices. "I wouldn't suggest that eating one portion of this would replace extra portions of something else."
In an emailed statement, Yinka Ebo, senior health information officer at Cancer Research UK, says: “Scientists around the world are looking at the impact of diet on cancer risk and the evidence doesn’t support eating a specific ‘super’ food on its own to protect against cancer.
“We don’t know whether this new broccoli would offer any positive health effects beyond those of normal vegetables. We do know that the best ways to reduce cancer risk are to give up smoking, cut back on alcohol, keep a healthy weight and take exercise. Diet can also help - large studies show that eating a healthy balanced diet high in fibre, fruit and vegetables and low in red and processed meat, saturated fat and salt can help to reduce your risk of cancer and other diseases.”
View Article Sources
Institute of Food Research/John Innes Centre.
Professor Richard Mithen, Institute of Food Research.
Victoria Taylor, senior dietitian, British Heart Foundation.
Cancer Research UK.
Published on October 04, 2011
