Anti-cancer properties of broccoli sprouts

Brassica Protection Products LLC which produces a brand-name broccoli sprout health food called "BroccoSprouts."

In more recent studies, Talalay and colleagues applied broccoli-sprout extract to the skin of hairless mice and then exposed those mice to ultraviolet radiation. Mice treated with the extract developed significantly fewer skin cancer tumors than hairless mice that had not been treated. Among treated mice, even the tumors they did develop were smaller than those developed by untreated mice.

Most recently, the researchers exposed six healthy human volunteers to ultraviolet radiation in two locations on their backs. One location had been smeared with broccoli-sprout extract one to three days previously.

The areas treated with broccoli-sprout extract developed an average of 37 percent less redness and inflammation than the areas that had not been so treated. The reaction to the extract varied widely by individual, however, from a low of 8 percent less redness and inflammation to a high of 78 percent. (Both redness and inflammation are signs of skin damage, a precursor to skin cancer