Metabolic profiling and biological capacity of Pieris brassicae fed with kale (Brassica oleracea L. Var. Acephala).

Vegetables of the Brassica group are the most commonly grown and consumed worldwide. Food plants with apparent cancer and cardiovascular di sease-preventing properties include several varieties of Brassica oleraceae. The majority of the herbivorous insect species are specialized feeders, for which the behavioral decision to accept a plant as food or oviposition substrate is mainly related with sensory information. Pieris insects (Lepidoptera: Pieridae) are specialist herbivores of cruciferous plants