The Korean name for napa cabbage, baechu (배추), is a nativized word from the Sino-Korean reading, baekchae, of the same Chinese character sets.

[5] In the United Kingdom this vegetable is known as Chinese leaf or winter cabbage,[6] and in the Philippines as petsay (from Hokkien, 白菜 (pe̍h-tshài)) or pechay baguio.

The first records of napa cabbage cultivation date back to the 15th century in the Yangtze River region in China.

[15] Napa cabbage is a cool season annual vegetable which grows best when the days are short and mild.

The plant grows to an oblong shaped head consisting of tightly arranged crinkly, thick, light-green leaves with prominent white veins.

[21] Napa cabbage is used as a sign of prosperity in China,[22] and often appears as a symbol in glass and porcelain figures.

[citation needed] Fermented Napa cabbage (suan cai/sauerkraut) is a traditional food in Northeast China.

[23] In Korean cuisine, napa cabbage is the main ingredient of baechu-kimchi, the most common type of kimchi, but is also eaten raw as a wrap for pork or oysters, dipped in gochujang.

[14] The crop prefers a pH range from 6.0 to 6.2, a high organic matter content and good moisture holding capacity of the soil.

Lower pH or droughty soil can lead to calcium or magnesium deficiency and internal quality defects.

[14] The required amount of water depends on the stage of crop growth, weather conditions, and soil type.

[11] Breeding of napa cabbage was started by the Korean government research station of horticultural demonstration in 1906 to overcome starvation.

As napa cabbage and radish are the main vegetables for kimchi, research focused on increasing yield.

Woo Jang-choon who bred hybrid cultivars with self-incompatibility and contributed to commercial breeding by developing valuable materials and educating students.

The main purpose of the hybrid cultivar was high yield and year-round production of napa cabbage after 1960.

[11] To enable year round production of napa cabbage, it has to be modified to tolerate high and low temperatures.

The cultivar “Dong-Pung” (meaning “east wind”) was developed in 1992 and showed a high resistance to cold temperature.

As a result of continuous breeding in the commercial seed companies and the government research stations, farmers could now select what they wanted from among various high quality hybrids of Chinese cabbage.

[11] The fall season cultivar 'Yuki', with white ribs and tight leaf folding, gained the RHS's Award of Garden Merit (AGM) in 2003.

[11] Gomasho (ゴマ症),[32][33] also known as pepper spots, is a cosmetic defect affecting leaves' surfaces, primarily the outer ones.

It takes a form of spots appearing on the white parts of a leaf, with clearly defined edges, usually elongated, up to 2 mm in size.

A spot is formed through a collapse of cell walls and may be invisible during harvest and packing, only becoming apparent after storing in cold.

[29] Anhracnose is a brassica disease caused by Colletotrichum higginsianum that is especially damaging on napa cabbage, pak choi, turnip, rutabaga and tender green mustard.

[29] Black root is a disease that infects mainly radish, but it also occurs on many other brassica vegetables inclusively napa cabbage.

[29] White leaf spot is found primarily in temperate climate regions and is important on vegetable brassicas and oilseed rape.

Napa cabbage is relatively tolerant to the disease; mostly the only external symptoms are yellowing of lower, older leaves.

[29] Damping-Off is a disease in temperate areas caused by soil inhabiting oomycetes like Phytophthora cactorum and Pythium spp.

The disease is tolerant to low temperatures; it can spread in storages close to 0 °C, by direct contact and by dripping onto the plants below.

[29] Black rot, the most important disease of vegetable brassicas, is caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv.

The adult nematodes have limited active movement but their eggs contained within cysts (dead females) are readily spread with soil, water, equipment or seedlings.