Seasonal Effects on Health-Promoting Compounds in Cabbage Varieties

Researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ) investigated the seasonal variation in glucosinolates and their enzymatic hydrolysis products in red and white cabbage, as well as broccoli. The results provide crucial insights for cultivating and utilizing these vegetables for healthy diets and functional food production.

The study was carried out on the IGZ experimental fields in Großbeeren in three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022. It revealed that red cabbage shows significant variation in the amounts and profiles of bioactive compounds depending on the harvest season. Elevated levels of health-promoting isothiocyanates were observed in summer red cabbage, whereas autumn harvests showed increased production of nitriles and epithionitriles and only little isothiocyanates.

This change in the degradation outcome of glucosinolates could be attributed to the induction of epithiospecifier proteins in autumn which are involved in glucosinolate hydrolysis. In Broccoli, a very low seasonal variation could be observed, however white cabbage showed an increased release of epithionitriles in autumn. These changes are likely influenced by environmental factors such as light and temperature that affect the plants’ biochemical pathways.

These findings could guide farmers in optimizing harvest times to achieve specific compositions of bioactive compounds in cabbage. This offers promising potential for development of functional foods, particularly those with antiinflammatory and anticancer properties. “The study highlights the crucial role of environmental factors in shaping the nutritional profiles of Brassica vegetables,” said Dr habil. Franziska Hanschen, research group leader at IGZ.

The research work was carried out as part of the OPTIGLUP junior research group (2018-2023) funded by the Leibniz Competition.

Wissenschaftliche Ansprechpartner:

Dr. habil. Franziska Hanschen, Research Group Leader | Email hanschen@igzev.de |
Phone: +49 (0) 33701 – 78 250

Originalpublikation:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.142100 Púčiková, V; Witzel, K.; Rohn, S.; Hanschen, F. S. (2024) Season-dependent variation in the contents of glucosinolates and S-methyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide and their hydrolysis in Brassica oleracea. Food Chemistry. DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.142100.

Weitere Informationen:

https://igzev.de/download_file/5b664cb9-f5bd-4f85-b78d-6f0969468208/9 Caption: In red cabbage variety ‘Integro’, the formation of the bioactive metabolites, epithionitriles (ETN), nitriles (CN) and health-promoting isothiocyanates (ITC), changed significantly during the harvest season from July to Dezember. Source: Púčiková et al. (2024), Food Chemistry, Fig. 3E.

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