The Brussels sprout can be prepared in an endless number of ways. In 2015, a collection of school children and scientists in London, U.K., managed to power a Christmas tree with the use of 1,000 sprouts which is the equivalent of 44 kilowatts per hour. In 1 cup, or around 90g of sprouts, there are a staggering 158 kJ of energy, which is around 44 watts per hour! Sprout Energyīrussels Sprouts have a very high energy content, as we all know after eating a serving we’re all very energetic. It does this by blocking certain enzymes. This can actually lower levels of cholesterol.Īccording to a study, around 1 and 1/4 cups of sprouts can actually help protect DNA inside our white blood cells. The steam causes the fiber parts of sprouts to stick to bile acids which means they can easily excrete these acids. If you choose the most-common method of cooking sprouts, which is steaming the sprout, this can actually have cholesterol-lowering properties. With a cup of cooked Brussels, it provides you with an impressive 11g of carbs and 4g of protein. couple managed to grow a sprout plant that measured in at an astounding 9’ 3” – that’s 2.8 meters! Health Contents of Brussels SproutsĬonsuming 1 cup of sprouts will actually give a whopping 195% of your daily recommendation of vitamin K and 125% of your vitamin C. This behemoth weighed in at a jaw-dropping 18lb 3oz (8.3kg)! In 1992, the heaviest sprout was crowned. Sprouts on a school dinner were by far the worst for their awful smell.Īnd no one puts this better than the columnist Dave Barry who said “We kids feared many things in those days – werewolves, dentists, North Koreans, Sunday school – but they all paled in comparison with Brussels sprouts.” Longest & Heaviest Brussels SproutsĮvery child’s worst nightmare was always the thought of a giant sprout on their plate, especially if the family rule was that you weren’t able to leave the table until the plate was clean.īut what was reality’s largest, fattest and heaviest sprout? But more specifically, the smell is actually caused by the compound glucosinolate sinigrin which contains sulfur. Bad Smell and TasteĪs all good cooks know, boiling the sprout to within an inch of its life leaves it gray, sodden and generally unpleasant smell, but where does the smell come from? rejoiced at the thought of bigger sprouts on their lunches, of course. These monster sprouts were over twice as large, weighing in at an average of 35g each compared to the normal 15g!Ĭhildren across the U.K.

soared upward and outward producing so-called “monster sprouts”. In 2017, due to abnormal temperatures, the sprouts plants in the U.K. production out of the water, with a whopping 82,000 tons being produced in the European-market leading nation of the Netherlands alone. If you look over at Europe, they blow the U.S. When it comes to the U.S., the annual production stands at a staggering 32,000 tons with the largest producer of the sprout being California, followed by Washington and New York. Weighing in at over 21lb (9.5kg), this Christmas lunch was constructed at the Duck Inn and used 25 sprouts – over 6 recommended servings of sprouts! Brussels Sprout Production town of Redditch, the sprout played a huge part in making up the “world’s largest Christmas dinner.” With each having to be skewered and swallowed individually, he achieved the title of “the most sprouts consumed in 1 minute.” Brussels Sprout World RecordsĪs with anything in the world these days, there are a range of world records dedicated to the Brussels sprout.ĭid you know that in 2008, a Swedish man named Linus Urbanec achieved the stomach-churning record of consuming 31 sprouts in 60 seconds!

He could (with a great amount of success) identify those who had it or not simply on whether they were related, proving this is genetically affected.Īlthough the gene was found in the 1930’s, the specific gene wasn’t actually identified until 2003. Usually this hideous chemical isn’t found in the human diet thankfully, but it does exist in sprouts and other such foods.Īfter this gene was founded in the 1930’s, the founder conducted an experiment to see if people possessed the gene. This is the chemical responsible for the taste of bitterness. It’s all down to a gene: TAS2R38 which controls whether we taste the chemical PTC. Would you believe there is actually a genetic reason why you and your family may love sprouts whilst your partner and in-laws hate the little green gaseous bombs? Here we’re going to look at 10 facts about this green wonder from energy to genetics, and much more! The Brussels Sprout Gene Is it simply the way they are cooked, or something scientific that causes our sheer hatred of the sprout? Every year since a very young age, many of us are forced to sit down and eat the Brussels sprout – a vegetable almost every child and even a lot of adults detest.

Brussel sprout plant