Brassica Protection Products, the maker of TrueBroc® glucoraphanin, was honored with the prestigious American Botanical Council’s (ABC) Varro E. Tyler Commercial Investment in Phytomedicinal Research Award for 2016. Tony Talalay, Brassica’s co-founder and CEO, accepted the award at a ceremony at the Natural Products Expo West Convention in California.

Unlocking the Health Properties of Cruciferous Vegetables – Broccoli

Through partnership with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Brassica has laid the basis for understanding the health-protective properties of broccoli. Paul Talalay, MD, Distinguished Service Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at Johns Hopkins, discovered the ability of sulforaphane, a compound produced by cruciferous vegetables, to induce the production of enzymes that help eliminate toxic metabolites from the body. After a number of additional studies evaluating the properties of broccoli extracts, Paul Talalay founded Brassica Protection Products with his colleague Jed Fahey, ScD and his son Tony Talalay. One year later, the Hopkins group published findings on sulforaphane from cruciferous vegetables and its potential health benefits, paving the way for subsequent clinical studies.

“Being honored with the ABC’s prestigious Varro E. Tyler Commercial Investment in Phytomedicinal Research Award is a wonderful tribute to a lifetime of research by my father, Paul Talalay, who has dedicated himself to understanding the body’s own protective systems and elucidating the benefits of broccoli, glucoraphanin and sulforaphane in promoting human health,” said Tony Talalay, CEO and co-founder of Brassica Protection Products. “This award is a confirmation of Brassica’s mission to bring scientifically valid nutritional products to consumers. It is especially gratifying as it recognizes the company’s primary goal — to continually ensure quality commercialization efforts that honor the extraordinary quality of the science.”

ABC Tyler Award

The ABC Tyler Award was created to honor one of the most respected scientists in late-20th century herbal medicine and pharmacognosy (the study of medicines of natural origin). Professor Tyler was an early trustee of ABC, dean of the Purdue University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences for 20 years, and vice president of academic affairs at Purdue. He was the senior author of six editions of the leading textbook in the field, as well as numerous other professional and popular books and articles in the academic literature. Tyler encouraged scientific and product integrity, and envisioned a rational phytomedicinal health care sector that valued the proper evaluation of products’ quality, safety and efficacy.