Extraction, chemical characterization and biological activity determination of broccoli health promoting compounds

• Broccoli is an excellent dietary source of health promoting compounds.
• They have been found health promoting compounds in all broccoli parts.
• Anticancer and antioxidant are the main biological activities related to broccoli.
• Glucosinolates and related compounds have been predominantly analyzed in broccoli.
• The extraction and characterization procedures used depend on the phytochemical.

Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. Italica) contains substantial amount of health-promoting compounds such as vitamins, glucosinolates, phenolic compounds, and dietary essential minerals; thus, it benefits health beyond providing just basic nutrition, and consumption of broccoli has been increasing over the years. This review gives an overview on the extraction and separation techniques, as well as the biological activity of some of the above mentioned compounds which have been published in the period January 2008 to January 2013. The work has been distributed according to the different families of health promoting compounds discussing the extraction procedures and the analytical techniques employed for their characterization. Finally, information about the different biological activities of these compounds has been also provided.