Seed of Barbarea verna as a Rich Source of Phenethyl Isothiocyanate to Provide Natural Protection from Environmental and Dietary Toxins

ABSTRACT

Cruciferous veg e ta bles have a long his tory as a healthy com po nent of a daily diet and con tain many com pounds that may pre vent can cer. Phenethyl isothiocyanate is a break down prod uct of glucosinolates and has many well-doc u mented anticancer ac tiv i ties. A method for maximizing the re lease of phenethyl isothiocyanate from up land cress (Barbarea verna) seed, the rich est source, is pre sented. Op ti mal re lease is de pend ent on time, tem per a ture and pH. This method, anal o gous to the mas ti ca tion of fresh plant ma te rial, en ables the prep a ra tion of an ef fi cacious di etary sup plement contain ing up to 2% of phenethyl isothio -cyanate.

Key Words:

• Up land cress (Barbarea verna)
• phenethyl isothiocyanate
• anticancer
• can cer pre ven tive
• glucosinolate
• crucifer