General Information
NameKai-lan
Scientific NameBrassica oleracea var. alboglabra
DescriptionKai-lan, also known as Chinese broccoli, is a leaf vegetable known as Brassica oleracea var. alboglabra. Native to China, it is widely consumed in Chinese, Vietnamese, Myanmar, and Thai cuisines (PMID: 39764235, PMID: 37765363). The vegetable features thick, flat, glossy blue-green leaves with thick stems and small flower heads, with a flavor similar to broccoli but slightly more bitter. Kai-lan is commonly stir-fried with ginger and garlic, boiled or steamed, and served with oyster sauce. Rich in vitamins and antioxidants, it provides health benefits such as reducing inflammation and improving cardiovascular health. The most notable chemical in kai-lan is glucoraphanin, a glucosinolate compound. In addition to its culinary uses, kai-lan has medicinal properties, including anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects. Interestingly, kai-lan can be sown in late summer for early-winter harvesting, and seedlings planted in autumn will last all winter.
Primary IDFOOD00258
Picture258
Classification
GroupVegetables
Sub-GroupCabbages
Taxonomy
SuperkingdomEukaryota
KingdomViridiplantae
PhylumStreptophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderBrassicales
FamilyBrassicaceae
GenusBrassica
Speciesoleracea
Varietyalboglabra
ITIS ID532650
Wikipedia IDKai-lan
Composition
Compounds
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Macronutrients
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References
Content Reference— Rothwell JA, Pérez-Jiménez J, Neveu V, Medina-Ramon A, M'Hiri N, Garcia Lobato P, Manach C, Knox K, Eisner R, Wishart D, Scalbert A. (2013) Phenol-Explorer 3.0: a major update of the Phenol-Explorer database to incorporate data on the effects of food processing on polyphenol content. Database, 10.1093/database/bat070.