Cauliflowers 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 cauliflower!
- Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea.
- It belongs in the genus Brassica, which is in the Brassicaceae (or Mustard) family.
- It is an annual plant.
- It reproduces by seed.
- Typically, only the head is eaten- the edible white flesh.
- Its white fless is sometimes called “curd” (with a similar appearance to cheese curd).
- The cauliflower head is composed of a white inflorescence meristem.
- Cauliflower heads resemble those in broccoli, which differs in having flower buds as the edible portion.
- Brassica oleracea also includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, and kale, collectively called “cole” crops, though they are of different cultivar groups.
- In the 1st century AD, Pliny included what he called cyma among his descriptions of cultivated plants in Natural History.
- Pliny’s descriptions likely refer to the flowering heads of an earlier cultivated variety of Brassica oleracea, but comes close to describing modern cauliflower.
- In the Middle Ages early forms of cauliflower were associated with the island of Cyprus, with the 12th- and 13th-century Arab botanists Ibn al-‘Awwam and Ibn al-Baitar claiming its origin to be Cyprus.
- This association continued into Western Europe, where cauliflowers were sometimes known as Cyprus colewort.
- There was extensive trade in western Europe in cauliflower seeds from Cyprus, under the French Lusignan rulers of the island, until well into the 16th century.
- François Pierre La Varenne employed chouxfleurs in Le cuisinier françois.
- They were introduced to France from Genoa in the 16th century.
- They are featured in Olivier de Serres’ Théâtre de l’agriculture (1600), as cauli-fiori “as the Italians call it, which are still rather rare in France. Also, they hold an honorable place in the garden because of their delicacy”,
- They did not commonly appear on grand tables until the time of Louis XIV.
- It was introduced to India in 1822 by the British.
- The word “cauliflower” derives from the Italian cavolfiore, meaning “cabbage flower”.
- The ultimate origin of the name is from the Latin words caulis (cabbage) and flōs (flower).
- Cauliflower is very low in calories yet high in vitamins. In fact, cauliflower contains some of almost every vitamin and mineral that you need.
- There are 3 grams of fiber in one cup of cauliflower, which is 10% of your daily needs.
- Cauliflower is a great source of antioxidants, which protect your cells from harmful free radicals and inflammation.
- Cauliflower has several properties that may help with weight loss.
- The cauliflower has only 25 calories per cup, so you can eat a lot of it without gaining weight.
- It can also serve as a low-calorie substitute for high-calorie foods, such as rice and flour.
- There is such thing as cauliflower rice.
- The orange and purple cauliflower are higher in antioxidants than regular white cauliflower.
- Purple cauliflower’s true origin is not known, but the purple color is natural. It is the antioxidant anthocyanin that gives it the purple pigment.
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