Plants of the Brassicaceae family are considered useful for phytoremediation owing to their tolerance to high concentrations of heavy metals, which may be hyperaccumulated in the tissues. Cabbage seems to be a useful phytoextractor because of the high biomass concentrated in the head and cabbage cultivation technologies which ensure high yield. In a pot experiment, the response of plantlets of two cabbage cultivars: Ditmarska Najwcześniejsza (DN) and Kamienna Głowa (KG) to 10 and 40 mg Cd kg–1 DM of soil (Cd10 and Cd40, respectively) was studied. In addition, the content of Cd in the heads after the growing season was assayed. It was established that the Cd-induced stress was temporary and did not prevent head formation by cabbage plants. Higher leaf membrane leakiness and lower chlorophyll content, which were noticed during the 3rd week of vegetation, disappeared by the 8th week. Cd stimulated production of glucosinolates by plants. The higher dose of cadmium (40 mg Cd kg–1 DW of soil) diminished the fresh weight of heads of DN by ca 33%, and KG by 15%. However, the Cd accumulation recalculated to dry weight was high, and increased with the Cd dose. DN heads harvested from Cd40 contained up to 260-fold more Cd than control heads; for KG heads, the Cd content was over 560-fold higher. Hence, white cabbage can be used for phytoextraction of cadmium polluted soil. Higher resistance of KG than DN cultivar to stress caused by heavy metals may be attributable to a more efficient biosynthesis of organic sulphur compounds in the former cultivar, as reflected by the GLS content in both control and Cd-exposed KG specimens.