Cabbage, red
Red cabbage is a sort of cabbage, also known as 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 called anthocyanin. On acidic soils, the leaves grow more reddish while an alkaline soil will produce rather blue coloured cabbages. This explains the fact that the very 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 blue in basic solutions; it is for this reason that some have claimed that red cabbage is perhaps the vegetable most responsible for many scientific advances and the technology that we enjoy today.
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.
Red cabbage Nutrition Facts: Calories, Carbs, and Health Benefits
TweetRed cabbage is 90.39% water, 7.37% carbohydrates, 1.43% protein, and contains 0.16% fat. One cup of chopped red cabbage supplies you with 6.559 grams of carbohydrates, which is 5.05 percent of the minimum of 130 grams of carbohydrates you should have daily. That same a 100 gram reference serving of red cabbage provides 31 calories and is a very rich source of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and Vitamin K1 (phylloquinone) (76% and 42.44% of the Daily Value, respectively). This means if your diet contains red cabbage, it helps your body to absorb iron from food and defend itself more naturally since vitamin C is an antioxidant, reduce probability of heart disease by fighting cholesterol, improve the efficiency of lymphocytes (or white blood cells) to heal wounds and it is effective against gout (a type of arthritis) attacks by reducing blood uric acid levelsdementia since vitamin C impacts memory positivelythe occurrence of cancer. With this it contains a good amount of Manganese (13.5% DV).