CABBAGE & SAUERKRAUT

Copyright (c) 2012

Brassica oleracea

(Cruciferae)

CABBAGE

DESCRIPTION Biennial or perennial herb growing up to 2.5 m (8ft). Has a thick stem, grey leaves and 4-petlalled yellow flowers. Within the first year, it produces a greatly enlarged bud that develops into the familiar cabbagehead in late summer.

HABITAT & CULTIVATION Wild cabbage is native of the English Channel and the Mediterraean. Cultivated varieties are produced worldwide as a vegetabled as a vegetable.

PARTS USED Leaves

CONSISTITUENTS Cabbage is rich in vitamins A, B1, B2 and C. 

HISTORY & FOLKLORE The wholeome cabbage is one of the oldest vegetables. According to greek myth, the plant sprang into existence from the perspiration of Zeus. In a Greek ritual, cabbage was given to expectant mothers shortly before birth in order to establish good breast-milk production. The Romans used cabbage, as an antidote, especially to alcohol, believing it countered intoxication and prevented or reduced a hangover. They also used cabbage leaves to cleanse infected wounds. One traditional method of making a cabbage poultice, still used today, is to cut the thick midrib of a leaf and iron it, placing it while still hot on the area to be treated.

MEDICINAL ACTIONS & USES Cabbage's best-known medicinal use ia as a poultice - the leaves of the wild or cultivated cabbage plant are blanched, crushed or chopped, and applied to swellings, tumours and painful joints. Wild cabbage leaves eaten raw or cooked aid digestion and the  breakdown of toxins in the liver - so the Romans' eating it to ease a hangover was in fact quite justified. Cabbage is also detoxifying and helpful in the longterm treatment of arthritis. The high vitamin C content of cabbage has made it useful in the prevention of scurvy.

CAUTION A cabbage poultice may cause blisters if left  on for several hours.


SAUERKRAUT ("Sour Cabbage")

This is finely cut cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcu. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid that forms when the bacteria ferment the sugars in the cabbage. It is not to be confused with coleslaw, which consists of fresh cabbage and may receive an acidic taste from

Sauerkraut is made by a process of pickling called lacto-fermentation that is analogous to how traditional (not heat-treated) pickled cucumbers and kimichi are made. Fully cured sauerkraut keeps for several months in an airtight container stored at or below 15 °C (60 °F). Neither refrigeration nor pasteurization is required, although these treatments prolong storage life. German sauerkraut is often flavoured with juniper berries.

Fermentation by lactobacilli is introduced naturally, as these air-borne bacteria culture on raw cabbage leaves where they grow. Yeasts also are present, and may yield soft sauerkraut of poor flavor when the fermentation temperature is too high. The fermentation process has three phases. In the first phase, anaerobic bacteria such as Klebsiella and Enterobacter lead the fermentation, and begin producing an acidic environment that favours later bacteria. The second phase starts as the acid levels become too high for many bacteria, and Leuconostoc mesenteroides and other Leuconostoc spp. take dominance. In the third phase, various Lactobacillus species, including L. brevis and L. plantarum, ferment any remaining sugars, further lowering the pH. Properly cured sauerkraut is sufficiently acidic to prevent a favorable environment for the growth of Clostridium botulinum, the toxins of which cause botulism.

A 2004 genomic study found an unexpectedly large diversity of lactic acid bacteria in sauerkraut, and that previous studies had oversimplified this diversity. Weissella was found to be a major organism in the initial, heterofermentative stage, up to day 7. It was also found that Lactrobacillus brevis and Pediococcus pentosaceus had smaller population numbers in the first 14 days than previous studies had reported.

Back-slopping bypasses the heterofermentative stage of bacterial population dynamics, a stage which is important to developing flavor. This is due primarily to the greater initial activity of species L. plantarum. The Netherlands sauerkraut industry experienced an excessively sour product when inoculating cabbage with an old batch of sauerkraut.

Copyright (c) 2012. Lizzie & Joshua