Cabbage and purple cabbage are vegetables that people love to eat in their daily lives, and people often wonder what the difference is between these two vegetables that look the same but have different colors. Let's listen to what the experts have to analyze.
Cabbage, also known as head cabbage or by its alias, Savoy cabbage, is a variety of Brassica oleracea. The World Health Organization ranks cabbage as the third-best food in its recommended list of optimal foods.
Cabbage is quite nutritious, containing large amounts of vitamin C, fiber, carbohydrates, and various minerals. Eating more cabbage has anti-cancer properties. Fresh cabbage juice can treat stomach and duodenal ulcers, providing pain relief and promoting healing. Purple cabbage, also known as red cabbage, has purplish-red leaves with a waxy coating and a nearly round head. It is rich in nutrients, especially in vitamins C, E, and B-complex vitamins.
He Hongju from the National Engineering Research Center for Vegetables stated that both belong to different varieties of Brassica oleracea. In terms of nutritional content, there is not much difference between cabbage and purple cabbage. However, compared to cabbage, purple cabbage is also rich in anthocyanins, which are powerful antioxidants that can protect the body from free radical damage and have anti-aging effects. It can also enhance blood vessel elasticity, suppress inflammation and allergies, and improve joint flexibility. Furthermore, purple cabbage has a special aroma and flavor and can be boiled, stir-fried, eaten cold in salads, or made into pickles. Due to its rich pigment, it is a good ingredient for coloring salads or Western dishes. When stir-frying or boiling purple cabbage, add a little white vinegar before cooking, otherwise, it will turn dark purple after being heated. Cabbage is suitable for stir-frying and quick-frying; it can be made into soup with tomatoes, or used as a filling. Cabbage can inhibit cancer cells, and cabbage planted in autumn generally has a higher inhibition rate, so more cabbage can be eaten during the autumn and winter seasons. It is not advisable to buy too much at once to avoid a reduction in nutritional value after a few days.