Why does baking soda make red cabbage blue?

Why does baking soda make red cabbage blue?

Acidic solutions (acids) like vinegar, lemon and other citrus juices (which contain citric acid) and sodas (carbonic acid, or carbon dioxide dissolved in water) make the anthocyanin in cabbage juice turn reddish colors, while basic solutions (bases) like ammonia, baking soda and soaps turn cabbage juice bluish or …

What happens when red cabbage juice is added with baking soda?

Baking Soda is definitely a base and not an acid, so the cabbage juice will turn blue. It turns pink in an acid, like vinegar.

What happens when you mix red cabbage juice with baking soda and vinegar?

Cabbage juice is an indicator of pH, and it will reveal whether a chemical is an acid or a base. Cabbage juice turns pink when you add an acid, such as vinegar. It turns blue, or even green, when you add a base, such as baking soda. A chemical reaction occurs when an acid and a base are mixed together.

Why is my cabbage juice blue?

When anthocyanin comes in contact with the hydronium ions in an acid it turns pink, and when it comes in contact with the hydroxide ions in a base it turns blue or green. We refer to cabbage juice as a pH indicator because it can tell us if a substance is acidic or basic by changing colour.

Can I eat blue cabbage?

Easy to add to your diet. Purple cabbage is an incredibly versatile vegetable. You can eat it raw or cooked, and it’s well suited to accompany a variety of dishes.

How do you stop red cabbage going blue?

Red cabbages are easy to prepare. Strip off the outer leaves, wash, then slice into quarters, cut out the hard central core on each, then chop or shred. Lock in the colour by adding a touch of vinegar when cooking red cabbage in water. This stops the lovely deep purple hue from running.

What color does red cabbage juice turn in baking soda?

The vinegar will turn the cabbage juice red because it is an acid (acetic acid). The baking soda will turn the cabbage juice greenish-yellow because it is a base (sodium bicarbonate).

What happens when you add vinegar to red cabbage?

Add a little vinegar to the first glass of cabbage juice. Stir with a spoon and notice the color change to red, which indicates that vinegar is classified as an acid. All acids will turn red when mixed with cabbage juice.

Why does my purple cabbage turn blue?

The color of purple cabbage comes from pigments called anthocyanins. Heat from cooking causes these molecules to burst, releasing pigments that turn blue in an alkaline environment.

Can you eat blue red cabbage?

Red cabbage that has changed color overnight from red to blue is safe to eat. An increase in pH to 6.5 or 7.0, which is the same as tap water, will produce a blue color.

What happens when you put baking soda in red cabbage juice?

As soon as the white baking soda hits the red cabbage juice, you get green foam. If you put in much baking soda, you will get a lot of green foam, so be ready to clean up your mess. Eventually, all of your red cabbage juice will turn green. It seems that our experiment is over, but it is not.

How can you tell if cabbage juice is a base or an acid?

Pour every chemical (lemon juice, vinegar, detergent and soda) in each jar. Now to determine whether the substance is a base or an acid pour the cabbage juice in each jar. Here, if the mixture turns pink or red the chemical is an acid and if it turns blue or green the chemical is usually a base.

Why does red cabbage turn blue when cooked?

On the other hand, when boiling the red cabbage, the cabbage turned blue/purplish. This is caused by again an interaction of the anthocyanins, but this time, this causes the colours to turn darker, more towards blue than pink.

What happens to red cabbage when the pH is high?

Under acidic conditions the anthocyanins turn a bright pink. At a higher pH, around 5, the color turns into a darker purple. It is the color of ‘regular’ red cabbage. At a neutral pH (approx. 7) or even higher the color turns blue or even a dark green.