Red cabbage - wikipedia Red cabbage This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( January 2012 ) Red cabbage Red cabbage plant Scientific classification Kingdom : Plantae ( unranked ) : Angiosperms ( unranked ) : Eudicots ( unranked ) : Rosids Order : Brassicales Family : Brassicaceae Genus : Brassica Species : B. oleracea Cultivar Group Brassica oleracea Capitata Group Red cabbage in panorama between Finningen and Mörslingen, Germany. The red cabbage ( purple - leaved varieties of Brassica oleracea Capitata Group ) is a kind of cabbage, also known as purple cabbage, red kraut, or blue kraut after preparation. Its leaves are coloured dark red / purple. However, the plant changes its colour according to the pH value of the soil, due to a pigment belonging to anthocyanins. In acidic soils, the leaves grow more reddish, in neutral soils they will grow more purple, while an alkaline soil will produce rather greenish - yellow coloured cabbages. This explains the fact that the same plant is known by different colours in various regions. Furthermore, the juice of red cabbage can be used as a home - made pH indicator, turning red in acid and green / yellow in basic solutions. It can be found in Northern Europe, throughout the Americas, in China and especially in Africa. On cooking, red cabbage will normally turn blue. To retain the red colour it is necessary to add vinegar or acidic fruit to the pot. Red cabbage needs well fertilized soil and sufficient humidity to grow. It is a seasonal plant which is seeded in spring and harvested in late fall. Red cabbage is a better keeper than its `` white '' relatives and does not need to be converted to sauerkraut to last the winter. Contents 1 Uses 2 Cultivation 3 pH indicator 4 Nutrition 5 References 6 External links Uses Red cabbage, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt Nutritional value per 100 g ( 3.5 oz ) Energy 122 kJ ( 29 kcal ) Carbohydrates 6.94 g Sugars 3.32 g Dietary fibre 2.6 g Fat 0.09 g Protein 1.51 g Vitamins Quantity % DV Vitamin A equiv. beta - Carotene 0 % 2 μg 0 % 20 μg Folate ( B9 ) 6 % 24 μg Vitamin C 41 % 34.4 mg Vitamin K 45 % 47.6 μg Minerals Quantity % DV Potassium 6 % 262 mg Units μg = micrograms mg = milligrams IU = International units Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source : USDA Nutrient Database Red cabbage is often used raw for salads and coleslaw. This vegetable can be eaten cooked. It is the traditional accompanying side dish paired with many German meals -- most notably, Sauerbraten. At Christmas it can be spiced and served as an accompaniment to seasonal roast goose. Cultivation Red cabbage plantation on a farm A cut red cabbage It is recommended to start red cabbage seeds indoors 4 weeks before the last frost. Sow in containers that allow for movement of water through the bottom of a cell. Popular seedling starting containers are peat pots, egg cartons, plug trays or milk cartons. Once the seedlings grow to about 2 inches ( 5.1 cm ) tall, and have developed their first leaves, they can be hardened off and moved outside for transplanting. Red cabbage prefers climates that remain moist and cool for most of its vegetative growth stage, so they can be placed in the ground shortly after the last frost, while the spring is still cool. The cabbage plants can be spaced about 12 -- 26 in ( 30 -- 66 cm ) from one another. They will need watering often but are otherwise low maintenance plants. PH indicator A gradient of red cabbage extract pH indicator from acidic solution on the left to basic on the right Red cabbage contains an anthocyanin - based dye that can be used as a pH indicator. It is red, pink, or magenta in acids, ( pH < 7 ), purple in neutral solutions ( pH ≈ 7 ), and ranges from blue to green to yellow in alkaline solutions ( pH > 7 ). Nutrition Red cabbage has ten times more vitamin A and twice as much iron as green cabbage. References Jump up ^ `` Red Cabbage Lab : Acids and Bases '' ( pdf ) Jump up ^ Sandi Busch, Demand Media, `` What Are the Health Benefits of Red Cabbage Vs. Green Cabbage ? '', San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved June 1, 2014. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brassica oleracea var. capitata f. rubra. Cultural information on cabbage ( capitata group ) How to Make Red Cabbage pH Indicator How to extract the dye hide Brassica oleracea Brassica oleracea Acephala group Broccoflower Broccoli Broccoli sprouts Broccolini Brussels sprout Cabbage Cauliflower Collard greens Gai lan Kale Kohlrabi Red cabbage Romanesco broccoli Savoy cabbage Spring greens See also List of cabbage dishes Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_cabbage&oldid=838711294 '' Categories : Cabbage Leaf vegetables Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from January 2012 All articles needing additional references Articles with ' species ' microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Bân - lâm - gú भोजपुरी Boarisch Català Dansk Deutsch Español Esperanto فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Italiano Luganda Magyar Nederlands 日本 語 Nordfriisk Norsk Picard Română Ślůnski Suomi Türkçe Українська 中文 17 more Edit links This page was last edited on 28 April 2018, at 20 : 41 ( UTC ). 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Question: colour of red cabbage in acid and base
Answer: red in acid and green/yellow in basic solutions