"It was the early 1980s when breeders at the Sakata Seed Company in Yokohama first decided to cross standard broccoli with Chinese kale (gai lan), hoping to make super-babies using the best traits of each plant. The goal was to create a milder-flavored, more heat-tolerant vegetable that would thrive in areas where conventional broccoli struggled. Once the laborious process began, it took years of experimentation and selective breeding - but they did indeed produce a brand-new hybrid vegetable in the Brassicaceae family."
"Its initial name in Japan was "Aspirations," converting to "Broccolini" after the long-stemmed beauties journeyed to America. Sakata partnered with Mann Packing of California to trademark the new American-style name in 1998. It's important to note that this tasty, highly nutritious vegetable was not "genetically modified," but naturally cross-bred and hand-pollinated from existing foods. Going through similar processes are ones on our somewhat surprising list of common man-made fruits and vegetables."
Broccolini originated from intentional cross-breeding between standard broccoli and Chinese kale at the Sakata Seed Company in Yokohama during the early 1980s. Breeders aimed to combine milder flavor and greater heat tolerance so the vegetable would thrive in regions where conventional broccoli struggled. Years of selective breeding and hand-pollination produced a brand-new hybrid within the Brassicaceae family. The hybrid was initially called "Aspirations" in Japan and later renamed Broccolini when Sakata partnered with Mann Packing to trademark the American-style name in 1998. The vegetable is naturally cross-bred and not genetically modified.
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