African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12487

Full Length Research Paper

Screening of Chinese brassica species for anti-cancer sulforaphane and erucin

Yuru You1, Yuanfeng Wu1*, Jianwei Mao1, Ligen Zou2 and Shiwang Liu1
  1School of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, Hangzhou, 310023, China. 2Institute of Farming Products Processing, Hangzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hanzhou 310024, China.  
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 05 December 2007
  •  Published: 18 January 2008

Abstract

Natural sulforaphane and erucin have been of increasing interest for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industries due to their anti-cancer effect. The sulforaphane and/or erucin contents in seeds of 43 different Chinese Brassica oleracea L.varieties were analyzed by HPLC and GC-MS. Among them, 21 cultivars seed meal (in 5 species, including Chinese kale, cabbage, kohlrabi, kale and broccoli) yielded sulforaphane and/or erucin. The results indicated that erucin was found mainly in cabbage and kohlrabi, and sulforaphane was found mainly in broccoli. The highest content of sulforaphane (1575.5 mg/kg) and erucin (2528.1 mg/kg) were found in Green Dragon I (broccoli) and Dongchunbao (cabbage), respectively. Crude sulforaphane and erucin were extracted in gram-scale; 1.266 g sulforaphane (purity: 78.2%) and 0.972 g erucin (purity: 65.6%) were obtained.

 

Key words: Sulforaphane, erucin, brassica seed, diet supplement.