KOREAN NET

A domestic study has found cabbage to have three major preventive effects. (iClickArt) Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution of the above photo is prohibited under copyright law.

By Koh Hyun Jeong

The National Agrobiodiversity Center (NAC) of the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences under the Rural Development Administration (RDA) on Oct. 17 said it identified three cabbage resources with high anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects after studying 93 types of the vegetable's genetic resources.

The NAC said its research found resources with a glucosinolate content of 21,000 μmol/kg or more in the types IT100355, IT100353 and IT100354.

As a compound used by plants to defend against pests, glucosinolate is known to have high physiological effects including against cancer.

The RDA also found that the main components of cabbage -- the natural compound gluconapin and glucobrassicanapin, a specific type of glucosinolate -- are likely to have anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties.

"We will scientifically prove the functionality of cabbage and increase its value in food and pharmaceuticals," NAC chief Ahn Byeong-ok said. "We will continue research to explore the functions of genetic resources by expanding molecular docking techniques."

This study was published in Scientia Horticulturae, an international academic journal based in the Netherlands.

hjkoh@korea.kr