Cauliflower, with its tightly packed florets, makes a showy display in the vegetable bin. Once you have cracked the white, purple or green heads of this vegetable open, you might wonder what to do with the plain, crunchy flesh. Eat the florets raw, steam or fry them. You can even mince or grate the florets to make a healthy version of the Chinese menu staple -- fried rice.
Macronutrients
Cauliflower is low-calorie because it is mainly water. One cup of cauliflower florets is 93 percent water. This serving has 27 calories and contains 2 g of protein. The carbohydrate content is 5 g, or 2 percent of the daily value for an adult diet, based on 2,000 calories. Sugars account for 2 g of the total carbohydrates. A cup of florets provides 2 g of fiber or 8 percent of the daily value. Cauliflower is not a significant source of fat. It has 0.3 g per 1-cup serving. This is less than 1 percent of the maximum recommended daily intake. One cup of florets contains no cholesterol.
Minerals
Potassium and manganese are the main minerals in a cup of cauliflower florets. The 320 mg of potassium provide 9 percent of the daily value for an adult diet. The manganese content of 0.17 mg is 8 percent of the DV. Cauliflower florets also have calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, fluoride and selenium. The amounts available for these minerals fall below 5 percent. This makes cauliflower a poor source of these nutrients.
Vitamins
This serving of cauliflower florets has 52 mg of vitamin C, which provides 86 percent of the daily value. The vitamin K content of 17 mcg provides 21 percent of the DV. It has 15 percent of the DV for folate, with 61 mcg. The 47-mg choline content is 11 percent of the DV. With 0.19 mg of vitamin B-6, this serving contains 10 percent of the DV. The pantothenic acid content is 0.7 mg, or 7 percent of the DV. The vitamin E content in 1 cup of florets is less than 1 percent.
Sterols
Although cauliflower has no cholesterol, it contains 19 mg of phytosterols, a cholesterol-like substance. Consuming phytosterols is beneficial because they help your body block the absorption of cholesterol, according to Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute. This results in decreased levels of low-density lipoprotein, or "bad cholesterol," in your bloodstream.
References
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 23 (2010)-Cauliflower, Raw NDB No: 11135
- Linus Pauling Institute; Phytosterols; Jane Higdon, et al.; September 2008
- MayoClinic.com; What Does Percent Daily Value Mean On Food Labels?; Katherine Zeratsky; May 2010
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