Cabbage is widely known as a good vegetable to eat when you have heartburn and stomach pain. In fact, it is good for patients with chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, and esophagitis, because cabbage is rich in SMM (S-methylmethionine), a kind of amino acid.
CabbageㅣSource: Clip Art Korea
SMM inhibits secretion of gastric juice and promotes cell regeneration of gastric ulcer tissue, which has the effect of healing the damaged gastric wall. The gastric mucosa secretes a substance called prostaglandin that inhibits gastric acid secretion and protects mucosal cells, and SMM is known to promote prostaglandin production.
SMM, which has a good effect on stomach ulcers, is also called ‘vitamin U’ after the first letter of Ulcer. SMM is the most abundant in fresh cabbage, but it is also abundant in radish, Chinese cabbage, kale, and broccoli.
Since SMM is decomposed by heat, it is best to eat cabbage raw or lightly cooked. According to the paper ‘Content of physiologically active substances and antioxidant activity according to cabbage processing conditions’ published in the ‘Korean Journal of Food Science’ in 2015, 100 g of dried cabbage contains 192.85 mg of SMM. However, when cabbage is put in boiling water for 5 minutes and blanched, the SMM content is reduced to 73.26 mg. After 10 minutes, the content of dechija drops to 60.51 mg.
Even when cabbage was steamed in a steamer, the SMM content decreased as the heating time increased. As the steaming time increased from 1 minute to 5 minutes, the SMM content decreased by 45.7% from 127.05 mg to 69.03 mg. After 10 minutes of steaming, the SMM content decreased by about 68.8% compared to fresh cabbage.
Finally, the researchers heated the cabbage using a microwave oven. The SMM content dropped to 131.00mg and 139.64mg respectively at 3 and 5 minutes. Reductions of 32.07% and 27.59%, respectively, compared to unheated fresh cabbage. However, the amount of reduction was small compared to the blanching or steaming method.
In response, the research team said, “In order to minimize SMM destruction, it is preferable to heat cabbage for a short time using a microwave oven rather than blanching or steaming.”
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