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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Raleigh, North Carolina » Food Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #72164
Title: ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF HEATED CABBAGE JUICE, S-METHYL-L-CYSTEINE SULFOXIDE AND METHYL METHANETHIOSULFONATE

Author
item KYUNG, KYU - SEJONG UNIVERSITY, KOREA
item HAN, DUCK - SEJONG UNIVERSITY, KOREA
item Fleming, Henry

Submitted to: Journal of Food Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/6/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Fresh cabbage was shown to form an antibacterial compound when heated at about 250 deg F. This compound is chemically similar to another antibacterial compound that we identified from unheated, fresh cabbage that was formed when the tissue was disrupted by grinding. Both compounds were formed from the same precursor compound, but by two separate mechanisms. Both compounds were shown to inhibit the food poisoning bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, as well as many other bacteria. We are considering the possible role of these compounds as natural food preservatives, as well as their influence on the production of sauerkraut from cabbage.

Technical Abstract: Autoclaved cabbage juice diluted with distilled water to 60% was inhibitory to growth of Staphylococcus aureus. S-Methyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide (SMCSO), autoclaved either together with or separately from nutrient broth, also inhibited the growth of S. aureus, but growth inhibition was greater when SMCSO was autoclaved separately. Methyl methanethiosulfonate (MMTSO2), a thermal breakdown product of SMCSO, completely inhibited growth of S. aureus at 10 ppm. The presence of MMTSO2 was shown to be formed in both autoclaved samples of cabbage juice and aqueous solution of SMCSO. Thus, evidence indicates that the bacterial inhibitory activity in autoclaved cabbage juice is due to heat-induced formation of MMTSO2 from SMCSO.