Broccoli Trivia | 40 facts about the vegetable

Broccoli is one of the most beneficial vegetables for our health, but not so many people love eating it.

Let’s find out more about the broccoli!

1. Broccoli is an edible green plant in the cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus Brassica)
2. Its large flowering head, stalk and small associated leaves are eaten as a vegetable.
3. Broccoli is classified in the Italica cultivar group of the species Brassica oleracea.
4. Broccoli has large flower heads, usually dark green in color, arranged in a tree-like structure branching out from a thick stalk which is usually light green.
5. The mass of flower heads is surrounded by leaves. Broccoli resembles cauliflower, which is a different, but closely related cultivar group of the same Brassica species.
6. It is eaten either raw or cooked. Broccoli is a particularly rich source of vitamin C and vitamin K.
7. Rapini, sometimes called “broccoli rabe,” is a distinct species from broccoli, forming similar but smaller heads and is actually a type of turnip (Brassica rapa).
8. The word broccoli comes from the Italian plural of broccolo.
9. This means “the flowering crest of a cabbage”.
10. It is the diminutive form of brocco, meaning “small nail” or “sprout”.
11. Broccoli resulted from breeding of landrace Brassica crops in the northern Mediterranean starting in about the sixth century BCE.
12. Broccoli has its origins in primitive cultivars grown in the Roman Empire and was most likely improved via artificial selection in the Southern Italian Peninsula or Sicily.
13. Broccoli was spread to northern Europe by the 18th century and brought to North America in the 19th century by Italian immigrants.
14. Later breeding of European, North American, Asian F1 hybrids supported international production.
15. Other cultivar groups of Brassica oleracea include cabbage (Capitata Group), cauliflower and Romanesco broccoli (Botrytis Group), kale (Acephala Group), collard (Viridis Group), kohlrabi (Gongylodes Group), Brussels sprouts (Gemmifera Group), and kai-lan (Alboglabra Group).
16. As these groups are the same species, they readily hybridize, for example, Broccolini or “Tenderstem broccoli” is a cross between broccoli and Kai-lan.
17. Broccoli cultivars form the genetic basis of the “tropical cauliflowers” commonly grown in South and Southeastern Asia, although they produce a more cauliflower-like head in warmer conditions.
18. There are three commonly grown types of broccoli.
19. The most familiar is Calabrese broccoli, often referred to simply as “broccoli”, named after Calabria in Italy. It has large (10 to 20 cm) green heads and thick stalks.
20. It is a cool-season annual crop. Sprouting broccoli (white or purple) has a larger number of heads with many thin stalks.
21. Purple cauliflower or Violet Cauliflower is a type of broccoli grown in Europe and North America.
22. It has a head shaped like cauliflower, but consisting of many tiny flower buds.
23. It sometimes, but not always, has a purple cast to the tips of the flower buds.
24. Purple cauliflower may also be white, red, green, or other colors.
25. Italian immigrants first introduced broccoli to the United States in the 1800s. However, it did not become widely know until the 1920s.
26. The word broccoli comes from an Italian word broccolo which means “the flowering top of a cabbage”.
27. In the United States, California produces 90% of the crop.
28. The United States ranks 3^rd in the world for production of broccoli. China is ranked 1^st and India ranks 2^nd.
29. The vegetable is a member of the Brassicaceae family which also includes cabbage, kale, and cauliflower.
30. There are two forms of broccoli: sprouting and heading. In the United States, heading broccoli is the most common.
31. The crop is a cool-season vegetable which means it grows best during spring or fall.
32. The vegetable is typically harvested from mid-October through December.
33. The crop is planted primarily by direct seeding.
34. It can take anywhere from 70 to 140 days to mature after planting.
35. The crop is typically 2 feet wide and 2 feet tall.
36. There is no machine to harvest the vegetable so it must be hand harvested. A knife is commonly used to cut the stem when harvesting.
37. The optimal storage life for the vegetable is 21-28 days.
38. In the United States, the average annual per capita consumption is 5.8 pounds.
39. Over the last 25 years, the crops consumption has increased over 940%.
40. According to the Mayo Clinic, it helps to normalize bowel movements, lower cholesterol levels, control blood sugar, maintain bowel health and aid in achieving a healthy weight.