Turnip greens

Turnip greens, scientific name Brassica rapa sylvestris of the Cruciferous family, are a vegetable of Italian origin but nowadays spread also in other parts of the world such as America and Australia. The turnip greens are characterized by dark green leaves and inflorescences, called broccoletti or broccoli of turnip. The healthy properties are truly remarkable, in fact these vegetables bring vitamins, such as C, group B and A, folic acid and mineral salts such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, phosphorus and iodine by resulting useful in cases of hypothyroidism (USDA Database - F. Aufiero, the nutritional and therapeutic role of food, 2015). Moreover, the turnip greens, like all other vegetables belonging to the family of Cruciferous, contain precious antioxidants, such as glucosinolates and the flavonoids quercetin and kaempferol, with powerful anti-cancer properties (Francisco et al, J Chromatogr A, Sep 2009 - Padilla et al, Phytochemistry, Feb 2007). Finally, turnip greens also show a laxative, diuretic and detox effect and have an action against cough, thus resulting useful in case of catarrh and other respiratory problems. In general, turnip greens are eaten cooked, let's see how. You can boil the turnip greens for a few minutes and serve them immediately seasoned with extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. In alternative, you can briefly boil them, then drain and cook these vegetables for a couple of minutes in a frying pan with a chopped clove of garlic and a splash of extra virgin olive oil. In this last case the diuretic, laxative and anticancer properties of the vegetable are preserved but their digestibility is increased (F. Aufiero, 2015).