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12

The cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), is a leafy garden plant of the Family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae), used as a vegetable. It is aherbaceous, biennial, dicotyledonous flowering plant distinguished by a short stem upon which is crowded a mass of leaves, usually green but in some varieties red or purplish, forming a characteristic compact, globular cluster (cabbagehead). Cabbage is normally green, but, if left to rot, can turn a sickly brown.

The plant is also called head cabbage or heading cabbage, and in Scotlandbowkail, from its rounded shape. The Scots call its stalk a castock, and the British call its head a loaf.

The cultivated cabbage is derived from a leafy plant called the wild mustard plant, native to the Mediterranean region, where it is common along the seacoast. Also called sea cabbage and wild cabbage,  it was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans; Cato the Elder praised this vegetable for its medicinal properties, declaring that "It is the cabbage which surpasses all other vegetables."  The English name derives from the Normanno-Picard caboche (head), perhaps from boche (swelling, bump). Cabbage was developed by ongoing artificial selection for suppression of the internode length. It is related to the turnip.

Cabbage leaves often display a delicate, powdery, waxy coating calledbloom. The sharp or bitter taste sometimes present in cabbage is due toglucosinolate(s).

Contents  [hide] 1 Uses 1.1 Raw 1.2 Cooked 1.3 Fermented and preserved 1.4 Medicinal properties 2 Varieties 3 Cultivation 4 Production 5 Diseases 6 Pests 7 Related Brassica varieties and species 8 Other 'cabbage' plants 9 Linguistic and vernacular associations 10 References 11 See also 12 External links

Cabbage
Cabbage, cultivar unknown
Species
Brassica oleracea
Cultivar group
Capitata Group
Origin
Mediterranean, 1st century
Cultivar group members
Many; see text.

Cabbage, raw Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 20 kcal   100 kJ
Carbohydrates     5.8 g - Sugars  3.2 g - Dietary fiber  2.5 g   Fat 0.1 g Protein 1.28 g Thiamin (Vit. B1)  0.061 mg   5% Riboflavin (Vit. B2)  0.040 mg   3% Niacin (Vit. B3)  0.234 mg   2% Pantothenic acid (B5)  0.212 mg  4% Vitamin B6  0.124 mg 10% Folate (Vit. B9)  53 μg  13% Vitamin C  36.6 mg 61% Calcium  40 mg 4% Iron  0.47 mg 4% Magnesium  12 mg 3%  Phosphorus  26 mg 4% Potassium  170 mg   4% Zinc  0.18 mg 2%
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database

Uses

The only part of the plant that is normally eaten is the leafy head; more precisely, the spherical cluster of immature leaves, excluding the partially unfolded outer leaves. The so-called 'cabbage head' is widely consumed raw, cooked, or preserved in a great variety of dishes.

Raw

Raw cabbage is usually sliced into thin strips or shredded for use in salads, such as coleslaw. It can also replace iceberg lettuce in sandwiches. Cabbage is also used raw in Pico de gallo because of its naturally peppery flavor.

Cooked

Cabbage is often added to soups or stews. Cabbage soup is popular in central Europe and eastern Europe, and cabbage is an ingredient in some kinds of borscht. Garbure (from Provençal garburo) is a thick soup of cabbage or other vegetables with bacon. Cabbage may be an ingredient in kugel, a baked pudding served as a side dish or dessert. Cabbage is also used in many popular dishes in India.

Boiling tenderizes the leaves and releases sugars, which leads to the characteristic "cabbage" aroma. Boiled cabbage has become stigmatized in North America because of its strong cooking odor and the belief that it causesflatulence. Boiled cabbage as an accompaniment to meats and other dishes can be an excellent source of vitamins and dietary fiber. It is often prepared and served with boiled meat and other vegetables as part of a boiled dinner.

Cabbage rolls, a type of dolma, are an East European and Middle Eastern delicacy. The leaves are softened byparboiling or by placing the whole head of cabbage in the freezer, and then stuffed with a mixture of chopped meat and/or rice. Stuffed cabbage is called holishkes in Yiddish. A vegetable stuffed with shredded cabbage and then pickled is called mango.

Bulgarian Cabbage

Bubble and squeak consists of potatoes and cabbage or, especially formerly, potatoes, cabbage and meat fried together. Potatoes and cabbage or other greens boiled and mashed together make up a dish called colcannon, an Irish Gaelic word meaning white-headed cabbage, grounded in Old Irish terms for cabbage or kale (cāl), head (cend orcenn) and white (find). In the American South and Midland, corn dodgers were boiled as dumplings with cabbage and ham.

Fermented and preserved

Cabbage is the basis for the German sauerkraut, Chinese suan cai and Korean kimchi. To pickle cabbage it is cut fine, placed in a jar, covered with a brine made of its own juice with salt, and left in a warm place for several weeks to ferment. Sauerkraut, or simply kraut, was historically prepared at home in large batches, as a way of storing food for the winter. The word comes from Old High German sūr (sour) and krūt (herb or cabbage). Cabbage can also be pickled in vinegar with various spices, alone or in combination with other vegetables. (Turnips can be cured in the same way.) Korean baechu kimchi is usually sliced thicker than its European counterpart, and the addition of onions, chillies, minced garlic and ginger is common.

Medicinal properties

Cabbage is an excellent source of Vitamin C. It also contains significant amounts of glutamine, an amino acid, which has anti-inflammatory properties.

It is a source of indol-3-carbinol, or I3C, a compound used as an adjuvent therapy for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, a disease of the head and neck caused by human papillomavirus (usually types 6 and 11) that causes growths in the airway that can lead to death.

In European folk medicine, cabbage leaves are used to treat acute inflammation  A paste of raw cabbage may be placed in a cabbage leaf and wrapped around the affected area to reduce discomfort. Some claim it is effective in relieving painfully engorged breasts in breastfeeding women.

Varieties

There are many varieties of cabbage based on shape and time of maturity. Cabbages grown late in autumn and in the beginning of winter are called coleworts; their leaves do not form a compact head. "Colewort" may also refer to a young cabbage. The word comes from Latin caulis (stalk of a plant, cabbage) and Old English wyrt (herb, plant, root). A drumhead cabbage has a rounded, flattened head. An oxheart cabbage has an oval or conical head. Apickling cabbage, such as the red-leafed cabbage, is especially suitable for pickling; krautman is the most common variety for commercial production of sauerkraut. Red cabbage is a small, round-headed type with dark red leaves.Savoy cabbage has a round, compact head with crinkled and curled leaves. Winter cabbage will survive the winter in the open in mild regions such as the southern United States; the name is also used for Savoy cabbage. Other traditional varieties include "Late Flat Dutch", "Early Jersey Wakefield" (a conical variety) and "Danish Ballhead" (late, round-headed).

Cultivation

Garden of flowering kale, a member of the cabbage family, in Shanghai, China.

Broadly speaking, cabbage varieties come in two groups, early and late. The early varieties mature in about 45 days. They produce small heads which do not keep well and are intended for consumption while fresh. The late cabbage matures in about 87 days, and produces a larger head.

Cabbage can be started indoors or sowed directly. Like all brassicae, cabbage is a cool season crop, so early and late plantings do better than those maturing in the heat of the summer.

Cabbage output in 2005

Control of insect pests is important, particularly in commercial production where appearance is a driver of success. The pesticides sevin and malathion are both listed for use on cabbage. A plant collar, consisting of a band of tar paper or similar material, is sometimes placed around the base of the stem of transplanted seedlings to protect them from injury by insects.

Cabbages keep well and were thus a common winter vegetable before refrigeration and long-distance shipping of produce.