Currently, the consumption of plant-based foods with nutraceutical properties is one of the crucial factors for the welfare and promotion of health, preventing various pathologies like cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Plant species belonging to the Brassicaceae (formerly Cruciferae) family are considered to be one of the earliest cultivated and domesticated plant groups grown as vegetables, fodder and sources of oils and condiments. Species from this family are regarded as one of the richest sources of health promoting phytochemicals such as minerals, trace elements, polyphenols, vitamins, and isothiocyanates. In addition to the species of this family that are of great economic importance, such as broccoli, rapeseed and mustards, there are other species that are hardly used, locally cultivated and vaguely studied that could also form part of the human diet.

The comprehensive knowledge of plant components of this family of plants in relation to their nutritional and nutraceutical properties is currently limited. Bioactive compounds in many genera and species of Brassicaceae have yet to be fully characterized, and the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of these phytochemicals is unknown. Of the 372 genera and more than 4,000 species of plants belonging to the Brassicaceae family, only a limited number of them have been studied and characterized with respect to their content of compounds of health importance. Many of these species are neglected or underutilized crops that could be a source of bioactive compounds of interest to human health. Some have the potential for development and domestication to form diverse new crop varieties.
Despite the growing demand for products from organic farming, knowledge of the impact of organic farming, as compared to conventional agriculture, on the content of bioactive compounds present in Brassicaceae species is very scarce and needs to be addressed in greater depth. The impacts of pesticide use on the nutritional composition of Brassicaceae is largely unexplored in the scientific literature.

The aim of this Research Topic is to collect contributions on topics which will improve the cultivation, utilization and application of plants from Brassicaceae family and their by-products to improve human health.
Sub-topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
- Ongoing research activities dealing with the valorization as new functional foods of traditional, neglected and underutilized species of Brassicaceae with nutraceutical components.
- Health promoting properties of plant tissues, seeds and oils.
- Chemistry characterization, extraction, and utilization of bioactive compounds from Brassicaceae species.
- Comparative effects of Organic and Conventional cropping systems on nutritional quality and nutraceutical properties of Brassicaceae.
- Influence of preharvest, postharvest and processing factors on the concentration and bioavailability of bioactive compounds of Brassicaceae.
- Evaluation of bio-accessibility and bioavailability of phytochemicals from Brassicaceae species.
- Assessment of the nutraceutical properties of plant extracts from Brassicaceae by in vitro and in vivo studies.

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Frontiers in Nutrition

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