Vegetable Brassicas and Related Crucifers

Abstract

This book per force of size concentrates on the vegetable brassicas, but has made great use of the science underlying the biggest world Brassica crop on an area basis, oilseeds and canola. It is impossible to study vegetable brassicas without being influenced by B. napus and the other oil-rich crops, but to include them in any detail would have required a vastly larger volume. Only very recently has science begun recognizing the nutritional benefits of both vegetables and oilseed brassicas. In comparative terms, only more recently have the biological properties of some of their wild relatives come to the fore. That tiny weed or rock garden speciality, depending on your horticultural predilection, Arabidopsis thaliana, has achieved enormous scientific clout as a model system for molecular biological studies. In future decades it could outstrip some of the crop vegetable brassicas in its economic significance