Romanesco broccoli (also known as broccolo romanesco, romanesque cauliflower, or simply romanesco) is in fact a cultivar of the cauliflower (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''botrytis''), not broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica''). It is one of two types of

broccoflower Broccoflower is either of two edible plants of the species ''Brassica oleracea'' with light green heads. The edible portion is the immature flower head (inflorescence) of the plant. Broccoli and cauliflower are different cultivars of the same sp ...

. It is an edible flower bud of the species ''

Brassica oleracea ''Brassica oleracea'', also known as wild cabbage in its uncultivated form, is a plant of the family Brassicaceae. The species originated from feral populations of related plants in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it was most likely first cultiv ...

'', which also includes regular

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

and

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables cultivated from the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. Cauliflower usually grows with one main stem that carries a large, rou ...

. It is

chartreuse Chartreuse () may refer to: Common meanings * Chartreuse (liqueur), a French liqueur * Chartreuse (color), a yellow-green color named after the liqueur * Grande Chartreuse, the original Carthusian monastery Other uses * Chartreuse (dish), a ...

in color and has a striking form that naturally approximates a

fractal In mathematics, a fractal is a Shape, geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scale ...

. Romanesco has a nutty flavor and a firmer texture than white cauliflower or broccoli when cooked.

Description

Romanesco superficially resembles a cauliflower, but it is chartreuse in color, with the form of a natural

. Nutritionally, romanesco is rich in

vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...

vitamin K Vitamin K is a family of structurally similar, fat-soluble vitamers found in foods and marketed as dietary supplements. The human body requires vitamin K for post-translational modification, post-synthesis modification of certain proteins ...

dietary fiber Dietary fiber (fibre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or roughage is the portion of plant-derived food that cannot be completely broken down by human digestive enzymes. Dietary fibers are diverse in chemical co ...

, and

carotenoids Carotenoids () are yellow, orange, and red organic compound, organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and Fungus, fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips ...

Fractal structure

The

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

(the bud) is self-similar in character, with the branched

meristem In cell biology, the meristem is a structure composed of specialized tissue found in plants, consisting of stem cells, known as meristematic cells, which are undifferentiated cells capable of continuous cellular division. These meristematic c ...

s making up a

logarithmic spiral A logarithmic spiral, equiangular spiral, or growth spiral is a self-similarity, self-similar spiral curve that often appears in nature. The first to describe a logarithmic spiral was Albrecht Dürer (1525) who called it an "eternal line" ("ewi ...

, giving a form approximating a natural fractal; each bud is composed of a series of smaller buds, all arranged in yet another logarithmic spiral. This self-similar pattern continues at smaller levels. The pattern is only an approximate fractal since the pattern eventually terminates when the feature size becomes sufficiently small. The number of spirals on the head of Romanesco broccoli is a

Fibonacci number In mathematics, the Fibonacci sequence is a Integer sequence, sequence in which each element is the sum of the two elements that precede it. Numbers that are part of the Fibonacci sequence are known as Fibonacci numbers, commonly denoted . Many w ...

. The causes of its differences in appearance from the normal

and

have been modeled as an extension of the preinfloresence stage of bud growth. A 2021 paper has ascribed this phenomenon to perturbations of floral gene networks that causes the development of

s into flowers to fail, but instead to repeat itself in a self-similar way.

References

External links

* * *
Fractal Food: Self-Similarity on the Supermarket Shelf
(John Walker, March 2005)

(Aleksandar Rodić, 2009) {{DEFAULTSORT:Romanesco Broccoli Brassica oleracea Fractals Inflorescence vegetables de:Blumenkohl#Formen und Typen

Description

Fractal structure

See also

References

External links