A British team has found that a special strain of the humble vegetable can be a powerful weapon in staving off cancer and other killer diseases.
In fact, the breakthrough comes after a 26-year slog by the scientists at the University of East Anglia which cultivates a special strain of the humble veg.
Their breeding programme -- started in 1984 using some broccoli picked in Italy -- has finally come up trumps with a new variety that can also combat heart disease.
The new strain boasts twice the levels of a wonder nutrient long known to make broccoli a powerful weapon in staving off cancer and other killer diseases, say the scientists.
They reckon the huge dose of glucoraphanin in their veg could be more effective than existing drugs.
The plants the super broccoli was bred from were personally picked by Dr Richard Mither, whose Norwich-based Institute of Food Research helped come up with the new strain.
He stressed: "It's not Genetically Modified -- it's nothing to do with GM. It's just a normal breeding programme. I collected wild broccoli in the 1980s and it's derived from that."