This yellow and white mass inside the red cabbage

cabbage

My wife cut a head of red cabbage in half and found this yellow and white organic mass inside it. We never saw anything like it before. Can anyone tell me what it is? Would it have been safe to eat? Could we have just cut off this portion of it and used the rest? We ended up playing it safe and throwing the whole head away.

red cabbage with yellow and white mass

red cabbage with yellow and white stuff on top

Best Answer

These are immature flower shoots from the cabbage. Over time these would develop into a shoot that projects out the top of the "head" of the cabbage bearing the flowers.

These are not purple as they are largely stem (check the stems/major veins on the leaves - they are mostly white too). The flowers of the cabbage are yellow - but these aren't the yellow bits you are seeing - those are the bracts; the same as the "leaves" you get around a broccoli floret.