| Chinese broccoli or gai-lan (Brassica oleracea L. var. alboglabra Bailey)
This excellently flavored broccoli relative is also called Chinese kale or kailan. The edible
vegetable consists of a tender green flower stem with buds of what will become white flowers.
The leaves and stems are light to medium green in color and are covered with a white haze due
to cuticle and wax development (Larkcom 1991).
Different varieties of gai-lan vary in stem length and color from light to medium green. About
55-70 days are required from a fall seeding to harvest maturity. It grows best during cooler
weather. Gai-lan is planted with 2 to 4 rows per bed, 8 to 12 cm between plants, with a planting
density of 108,000 to 220,000 plants/ha. Average seasonal yield, with 2 to 3 harvests, is 320-600
18 kg-crates/ha (Shuler 1995).
At harvest the flower buds should be closed (
Fig. 7
). After harvest the stem becomes tougher
than does that of Chinese kale and it may be peeled before use much as broccoli stems are. Gai-
lan, like broccoli, is very perishable. Postharvest defects and recommended conditions are
described in
Table 2
,
3
,
4
.
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