Chinese cabbages are a group of popular, temperate leafy vegetables belong to the same family as cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower, i.e. mustard family, also known as Cruciferae family or Brassicaceae family. Chinese cabbages are biennial in their growing habit but are grown as annuals for vegetable purposes. In case of biennial plants, vegetative growth phase is completed during the first year of growing while reproductive phase is completed during the second year. Since vegetative parts of the plants are used for vegetable purposes in case of cruciferous vegetables, these crops are normally grown as annuals.
Types of Chinese Cabbages: There are two types of Chinese cabbages available in the market: Brassica rapa pekinensis (napa cabbage) and Brassica rapa chinensis (pak choi). Both of these are hardy, cool season crops which thrive well in a temperate climate.
Pak choi or Bok choy (Brassica rapa chinensis): Brassica rapa chinensis group of chinese cabbages do not form compact heads, i.e. these are non-heading form of Chinese cabbages. Instead they form celery-like loose head (cluster) of smooth, glossy, green leaves with white stalks. Hence they are also known as ‘white vegetable’ ;( Pak or bok means ‘white’ and choi or choy means ‘vegetable’). There are many kinds of pak choi cabbages available in the market with their size ranging from 10 centimetres tall to 60 centimetres tall, and colour of leaves ranging from dark green to light green and with white to pale green coloured leaf stalks. Other English names of pak choi are Chinese chard, Chinese mustard, celery mustard, and Spoon cabbage. A major pak choi variety available in the market is ‘Canton Pak Choi’. Major hybrid varieties of Pak choi are Mei Qing Choi, Tropical Delight, Two Seasons, China Pride, Jade Pagoda and Dynasty. Pak choi is rich in antioxidants and fibre content. Besides, it is rich in vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, B-complex vitamins, and minerals like calcium, and iron.
According to USDA, the United States Dept. of Agriculture, 100g edible portion of raw pak choi contains 95.32g moisture, 13kcal of energy, 1.5g protein, 0.2g fat, 2.18g carbohydrate, 1g dietary fiber, and 1.18g sugars. It also contains 0.027g of saturated fatty acids, 0.015g MUFA (mono unsaturated fatty acids) and 0.096g PUFA (poly unsaturated fatty acids). In addition to this, pak choi is an excellent source of minerals and vitamins.
Napa Cabbage (Brassica rapa pekinensis): Brassica rapa Pekinensis cabbages are of two types: barrel-shaped with crinkly leaves and the cylindrical-shaped with thin, smoother leaves. Both types are compact head forming varieties of Chinese cabbages and are with dark green to very pale leaves and a broad, white-coloured leaf midrib. They are popularly known as napa cabbages.
As mentioned above, napa cabbages form elongated compact heads of overlapping, broad-stalked tightly wrapped leaf petioles on maturity. Two major forms of these compact heading types of Chinese cabbages are Chihili and Che foo. Varieties belonging to the group Chihili are michihili, market pride, shantung, and shaho tsai. Varieties belonging to the group Che foo are, wong bok, wintertime, tropical pride, spring giant and Tokyo giant. However some varieties do not form compact heads on maturity. For example, ‘Santo’. Synonyms of Napa cabbage are celery cabbage, Peking cabbage, won-bok, Chinese white cabbage, and pe-tsai cabbage.
According to USDA, 100g of edible portion of napa cabbage contains 94.39g water, 16 kcal energy, 1.2g protein, 0.2g fat, 3.23g carbohydrate, 1.2g dietary fiber, and 1.41g sugars. It also contains 0.043g of saturated fatty acids and 0.023g MUFA (mono unsaturated fatty acids) and 0.072g PUFA (poly unsaturated fatty acids).
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