Review: S-Methyl Cysteine Sulphoxide, a Plant Secondary Metabolite of Potentially Significant Public Health Interest

One noticeable feature that is shared by cabbages, leeks, garlic and onions, amongst others, is their strikingly pungent aroma and distinctive taste, mostly attributable to sulphur-containing chemicals. Indeed, it has been appreciated for many years that these vegetables contain large amounts of sulphurous materials that release volatile compounds, especially during the processes involved in food preparation. 1 2 In alignment with this, workers have shown that the greatest loss of sulphur from soils was found after harvesting peas and cabbage. 3 Many of these plants, and others belonging to the Alliceae (~Liliaceae; now sub-family Alloideae), Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) and Fabaceae (Leguminosae) families, are considered beneficial to human health and sulphur compounds have been advocated as being responsible. 4-7