Turnip (Brassica Rapus L.): a natural health tonic

In addition to basic nutrition, plant-based foods provide substantial amounts of bioactive compounds which deliver desirable health benefits. During the last decade, secondary metabolites, also known as phytochemicals, obtained from plants, have aroused special attention by researchers. Amongst such plants, the turnip contains a few valuable components which not only endorse health benefits but also provide healing properties. Various bioactive components, for example peroxidase, kaempferol, phenolic compounds, sulforaphane, organic acids, vitamin K, glucosinolates etc are highlighted in this manuscript. Likewise, numerous minerals, such as copper, manganese and calcium, and organic acids, such as sinapic and ferulic acids and their derivatives, found in different amounts in fresh greens and turnip roots, are also discussed briefly. The current paper is focused on the phenolic compounds, which act as beneficial compounds for human health and can be isolated from plant foods, especially turnip. Due to the presence of bioactive constituents, turnip imparts a positive role with respect to the hepatic injury caused by diabetes, high antioxidant activity and a good hepatoprotective role. The impact of environmental conditions and processing mechanisms on the phenolic compound composition of Brassica vegetables, with special reference to turnip, was also briefly discussed.