Brussels sprouts
ingredient / ingredient-brussels-sprouts
芽キャベツ / Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera
Brussels sprouts are a heading vegetable of the cabbage family whose small round axillary buds along the stem are eaten; they are described as having bitterness from glucosinolates.
On this page (7 sections)
Reading the bitterness
A review table of glucosinolates identifies gluconapin, shared by several cruciferous vegetables including Brussels sprouts, Cook's scurvy grass, brown mustard, broccoli, and kale, as a compound with the sensory descriptor bitter taste. Its hydrolysis product is 3-butenyl isothiocyanate.
The same table assigns the bitter taste descriptor to epi/progoitrin, shared by Brussels sprouts, salad rocket, sea kale, and turnips, and the distinct descriptor extreme bitter taste to its hydrolysis product, goitrin. The table organizes sensory descriptors from isolated pure compounds and GC-O analysis; it provides neither sensory-panel measurements of Brussels sprouts themselves nor their compound concentrations.
A laboratory sensory study with thirty-seven adults reported, in the abstract available, that adding sodium acetate reduced bitterness in asparagus, Brussels sprouts, and kale, and tended to raise liking scores for Brussels sprouts.
In a separate sensory study of Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, adding salt (NaCl) produced no average change in bitterness or liking scores (both p>0.3). Responses did vary by person: participants who rated the unsalted food more bitter showed larger declines in bitterness after salt was added (R2=0.211). This too is reported only at the abstract level.
Sources for this overview
Taste and Flavor Perceptions of Glucosinolates, Isothiocyanates, and Related Compounds
Checked for this overview: Used the bitter descriptor for gluconapin and its hydrolysis product. / Used the distinction between the descriptors for epi/progoitrin and goitrin.
Masking Vegetable Bitterness to Improve Palatability Depends on Vegetable Type and Taste Phenotype
Checked for this overview: Used the bitterness reduction and trend in liking with sodium acetate.
Checked for this overview: Used the lack of an average salt effect and the individual differences (R²=0.211).
Other names: Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera (la)
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Composition and content (2)
Scope: Layer: literature. Table 1 of the review (a list of glucosinolates, isothiocyanates, and sensory descriptors for plants of the order Brassicales).
Show data
ingredient-brussels-sprouts —is_documented_as_having→ (the claim sentence above)Scope: Layer: literature. Table 1 of the review (a list of glucosinolates, isothiocyanates, and sensory descriptors for plants of the order Brassicales).
Note: A different row of the same table. Health-related columns elsewhere in the table were not copied into this claim.
Show data
ingredient-brussels-sprouts —is_documented_as_having→ (the claim sentence above)Sensory (2)
Scope: Layer: food. The same laboratory experiment.
Note: Checked against the full text on 2026-10-21.
Show data
ingredient-brussels-sprouts —has_perceived_bitterness_suppressed_by→ (the claim sentence above)Scope: Layer: food. A human sensory evaluation using real vegetables (Brussels sprouts and cauliflower) (Experiment 1).
Show data
ingredient-brussels-sprouts —has_perceived_bitterness_unchanged_by→ (the claim sentence above)