Cauliflower

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About Cauliflower
Wikipedia Article About Cauliflower on Wikipedia

Cauliflower is a variety (Botrytis Group) of Brassica oleracea in the family Brassicaceae. Cauliflower resembles broccoli, to which it is closely related, except with very densely packed white flower buds. Only the head of the cauliflower is eaten, a part known as the white curd. This stalk is surrounded at the base by thick, green leaves.

Cauliflower is a source of nutritional vitamins and minerals. Cauliflower is most commonly eaten cooked, but it may also be eaten raw or pickled, and is often sold in that form commercially with pickled onions and pickles (pickled cucumbers).

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, one cup of raw cauliflower provides 77% of an adult's DRI of vitamin C. It is also an important source of protein, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin B6, folate, pantothenic acid, and potassium. This food is low in saturated fat, and very low in cholesterol (less than 1g per kg).

In March 2003, Britain's Department for International Development released a study showing that cauliflower in India had high concentrations of heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and zinc, far exceeding those permissible under Indian law. On September 23, 2002, a 17-year-old boy died after eating a small cauliflower he plucked from a field in Chandigarh, India, although it is believed that his death was due to pesticides that were sprayed on the cauliflower, and not the cauliflower itself.

Bhutanese prophets have allegedly foretold cauliflower poisonings in early 19th century scripts, and cauliflowers were as a result banned in various Bhutanese provinces between 1831 and 1946.

A cauliflower is an annual plant which means that it has a lifecycle of a year.