Nutrition
Broccoli sprouts actually have lower nutritional values than full sized broccoli according to the USDA. Many studies compare the nutritional value of dry, dormant seeds to sprouts to obtain an exaggerated positive result for sprouts. However, the sprouts are not typically consumed for their nutrient content; they are consumed for their content of bioactive molecules with potent nutrigenomic potential. Broccoli sprouts contain a particular glucosinolate compound, glucoraphanin, which is found in vacuoles within the cytoplasm of the plant cell. The membrane of the plant cells also contain an enzyme, myrosinase, which is walled off from the vacuoles of glucoraphanin. Only when the plant cell is ruptured by cutting, chewing, etc. do the two substances come into contact with each other. In the moist environment of the cell, this leads to a chemical reaction wherein the myrosinase converts the glucoraphanin to an isothiocyanate, sulforaphane. It is predominantly the sulforaphane for which broccoli sprouts have been so widely researched. The glucoraphanin of itself is inert.
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