Cabbage leaves display a delicate, powdery, waxy coating called bloom. The plant is also called head cabbage due its rounded shape. The sharp or bitter taste sometimes present in cabbage is due to glucosinolate.

It is a herbaceous, biennial, dicotyledonous flowering plant distinguished by a short stem upon which is crowded a mass of leaves, usually green but in some varieties red or purplish, which while immature form a characteristic compact, globular cluster (cabbagehead).

Cabbages are also a good source of Riboflavin. Cabbage is used in a variety of dishes for its naturally spicy flavor. The so-called 'cabbage head' is widely consumed raw, cooked, or preserved in a great variety of dishes.It is the principle ingredient in coleslaw.