Cruciferous vegetables

The family takes its alternative name (Cruciferae, Neo-Latin for "cross-bearing") from the shape of their flowers, whose four petals resemble a cross.

Ten of the most common cruciferous vegetables eaten by people, known colloquially in North America as cole crops[1] and in the UK, Ireland and Australia as brassicas, are in a single species (Brassica oleracea); they are not distinguished from one another taxonomically, only by horticultural category of cultivar groups.

Extensive selective breeding has produced a large variety of cultivars, especially within the genus Brassica.

[10] Alliaceous and cruciferous vegetable consumption may induce glutathione S-transferases, uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyl transferases, and quinone reductases[11] all of which are potentially involved in detoxification of carcinogens such as aflatoxin.

[12] High consumption of cruciferous vegetables has potential risk from allergies, interference with drugs such as warfarin, and genotoxicity.