Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.)

Abstract

Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.) belongs to the family Brassicaceae, mainly spread on the northern extratropical region of the globe, and originated from wild types growing on the European coasts of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Probably the leaves of these headless plants were used for food by the population of the Stone Age. The domestication of cabbage coincides with the development of human culture and civilization in ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire; ancient writings report many different, but still headless types (Capitulare de villis of Karl the Great, written 792–800 A.D.), which were first mostly used as medicinal plants and later as vegetables (Wein 1914).