ABSTRACT
It is absolutely true that the vegetables are an essential dietary component for a healthy life. In addition to their well-known nutritional value, the functional abilities of vegetables also play an important role in body protection and improvement, which have received an increasing attention. Nutritionists and doctors encourage people to consume plenty of vegetables and often recommended at least five servings per day. This chapter focuses on the vegetables that are most beneficial to human health, of which eight are explored for their functions in lowering cancer risk and assisting cancer treatment. Two wild green vegetables will also be mentioned. Of the vegetables discussed, the Allium and Brassica plants are the two largest sources of green vegetables and provide remarkable contribution to health promotion and body protection. Special emphasis is given on their bioactive ingredients regarding cancer chemoprevention—especially, the organosulfur components, steroidal saponins, and chalcones, all of which exert remarkable cancer inhibition and prevention as well as antioxidant, immunopotentiating, and apoptosis-inducing activities. In this chapter, all the anticancer, anticarcinogenic, and antioxidant properties and their bioactive substances are extensively discussed. Cancer-preventive mechanisms and food/drug synergies of green vegetables are well introduced. The discussion will sometimes include the influences of heat treatment (viz. cooking) on the bioactivities of vegetables and chemical components. This describing style will be returned throughout the remaining 10 chapters of this book.
