What is the difference between huangya cai, napa cabbage, cabbage and head cabbage?

In daily life we come across all kinds of vegetables, such as cabbage, huangya cai, napa cabbage, head cabbage and so on. They differ in shape, taste, nutrition, colour and price, and many people cannot tell them apart. Let us take a look below!

The difference between head cabbage and cabbage

There is no difference between head cabbage and cabbage; they are simply different names for the same thing. Other names for head cabbage include yangbaicai, yuanbaicai, baoxincai, lianhuacai, huizibai, datoucai and yezicai.

The difference between head cabbage and huangya cai

Sprout cabbage and head cabbage can be told apart very simply by their appearance. Huangya cai is long, its leaves are yellow, its leaf stalks are long and broad, and the leaves curl up at the tail end. Head cabbage, by contrast, is round, its leaves are mostly green, the leaves wrap around each other very tightly, and the inner leaves are slightly whiter than the outer ones.

The difference between head cabbage and napa cabbage

Head cabbage holds a very high status abroad, just like napa cabbage in China, which is why in China it is also called “yangbaicai” (foreign cabbage). However, head cabbage and napa cabbage are not the same species.

1. Napa cabbage is a variety of the Chinese cabbage subspecies of Brassica rapa in the genus Brassica of the family Brassicaceae, a biennial or annual herbaceous plant whose product is its green leaves. Head cabbage, whose scientific name is headed cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), is a plant of the genus Brassica in the family Brassicaceae.

2. Napa cabbage originated in northern China and is a traditional Chinese vegetable, evolving from Brassica rapa, and its tender leaf heads, rosette leaves or flowering stems are eaten. Head cabbage originated in the Mediterranean region and is a variety of Brassica oleracea.

3. Different morphological characteristics

① Napa cabbage: the root of napa cabbage is a shallow root system, with a thick main root and well-developed lateral roots distributed horizontally. The leaves are hairy or hairless and grow on a shortened stem in a rosette. Except for the bolting and tillering types, the axillary buds are not well developed; the inflorescence is a raceme, the flowers are pale yellow to yellow, and the fruit is a silique.

② Head cabbage: the root of head cabbage is a shallow root system, the stem is shortened, and the leaf rosette grows on the shortened stem. The leaves are elliptical, obovate or nearly triangular, green, dark green or purple, with a waxy bloom on the surface, and the leaf stalks are slender. After a certain amount of leaf rosette growth, the shortened stem swells to form a fleshy stem, round or flat-round, fleshy, with skin colour green or greenish white, purple in a few varieties, and the fruit is a silique.