Cancer study touts benefits of broccoli sprouts

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Good news for people who hate broccoli: A study shows there is up to 50 times more anti-cancer chemical in broccoli sprouts than in the mature vegetable, and the sprouts don't taste like broccoli.

Three-day-old broccoli sprouts, which are tender shoots topped with two baby leaves, are loaded with a concentrated form of sulforaphane, a powerful cancer fighter, say researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Paul Talalay, head of a team at Hopkins that discovered sulforaphane five years ago, said he was surprised that the sprouts contained such a high level of the anti-cancer compound.

"If these are developed commercially, this could be a really easy way for people to get the benefits of chemoprotection against cancer," said Talalay. A report on the research was being published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Enzyme prevents tumors from forming

Earlier studies showed that sulforaphane, found in broccoli, cauliflower and some other vegetables, prompts the body to make an enzyme that prevents tumors from forming. A 1994 study indicated that cancer development was reduced by 60 percent to 80 percent in laboratory animals fed sulforaphane extracted from broccoli.

Talalay said that diet studies have shown that eating 2 pounds of broccoli a week, an unappetizing thought to many people, can provide enough sulforaphane to lower colon cancer risk by half.

But Talalay said his lab has found that the sulforaphane content in broccoli from a grocery store can vary by a factor of eight or 10, and there is no way to identify a vegetable loaded with the compound from one that is not.

Broccoli sprouts may solve this problem, said Talalay, because the baby plants have a uniformly high level of sulforaphane.

"Because of the high content (of sulforaphane), it is possible to consume far lower quantities of the sprouts and get the same protection," he said.

Sprouts taste better than mature broccoli

Broccoli sprouts resemble the alfalfa sprouts now common in grocery stores, but they have more flavor, said Talalay. And the broccoli sprouts do not have the sharp tang of mature broccoli that many people, such as former President Bush, find unpleasant.

"They have a far more interesting taste than ordinary sprouts," said Talalay. "You can use them in sandwiches or salads."

Talalay said the broccoli sprouts take just three days to grow from seeds, in contrast to the 55 to 70 days it takes to grow a mature broccoli plant.

Broccoli sprouts are not now grown commercially, but Talalay said that if other researchers confirm the findings of his lab, it could encourage growers to start producing the baby broccoli as a new vegetable for health-conscious shoppers.

"This is an important finding," said Michael Bennett, a professor at the University of Texas, Southwest Medical Center and an expert on diet and cancer.

Diets rich in broccoli and other vegetables have a proven benefit to health, but "the important thing is getting people to eat them," he added.