Experiments with Red Cabbage Colours

Hermes2020

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I steamed some red cabbage in a stainless steel saucepan. When I drained off the water, I saw that it was an intense dark purple-blue.

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I filtered the water through a coffee filter paper and tried adding some chemicals I had in the kitchen. I found that the cabbage pigment behaved like a pH indicator, as shown in the next photo. I had to dilute the solutions to show the colours more clearly.

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The first glass on the left is the filtered water from the saucepan. It turned yellow-green after addition of some sodium hydroxide, which raised the pH to above 7. This is in the second glass. The third lovely blue colour is obtained at a pH lower than the second, but still above 7, by adding some sodium bicarbonate to the original water from the saucepan. The last, beautiful red solution, is after taking the pH below 7 by adding some vinegar.
 
Wow you made some beautiful colors from your cabbage! Will you try to use them for anything - stain fabric maybe? I wonder how they'd hold up or how permanent they'd be. I had the same thoughts while cooking beets a few days ago. It seems a waste to let color go down the drain!
 
Wow you made some beautiful colors from your cabbage! Will you try to use them for anything - stain fabric maybe? I wonder how they'd hold up or how permanent they'd be. I had the same thoughts while cooking beets a few days ago. It seems a waste to let color go down the drain!
Perhaps, but I guess it's all been tried over the years. The traditional tweeds, for instance, are all dyed with vegetable dyes. I know that onion skins can be used to dye fabrics. In my batik days, though, I only used industrial vat dyes that are so permanent that one can boil the dyed cloth.
 
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