Researchers from the Oregon State University in the US have found that a key component of broccoli sprouts -sulforaphane- can help suppress breast cancer proliferation and growth, an Australian daily reported.
Sulforaphane acts through DNA methylation, a biochemical process that is important for normal development in higher organisms.
"This process turns off genes and helps control what DNA material gets read as part of genetic communication within cells. This process gets mixed up in cancer sufferers," Emily Ho, associate professor from Linus Pauling Institute said.
Young sprouts contain more than 50 times the sulforaphane contained in mature broccoli, she was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.
"It appears that DNA methylation and Histone deacetylases (HDAC) inhibition, both of which can be influenced by sulforaphane, work in concert with each other to maintain proper cell function," she said.
The study was published in the Clinical Epigenetics journal.