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The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden beet. It is one of several cultivated varieties of ''
Beta vulgaris ''Beta vulgaris'' (beet) is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Betoideae of the family Amaranthaceae. Economically, it is the most important crop of the large order Caryophyllales. It has several cultivar groups: the sugar beet, of gre ...
'' grown for their edible taproots and
leaves A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...
(called beet greens); they have been
classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper * The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...
as ''B. vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'' Conditiva
Group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
. Other cultivars of the same species include the
sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together w ...
, the leaf vegetable known as
chard Chard or Swiss chard (; '' Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf bl ...
or spinach beet, and mangelwurzel, which is a
fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (includin ...
crop. Three subspecies are typically recognized.


Etymology

''Beta'' is the ancient Latin name for beetroot,Gledhill, David (2008). "The Names of Plants". Cambridge University Press. (hardback), (paperback). pp 70 possibly of Celtic origin, becoming ''bete'' in Old English. ''Root'' derives from the late Old English ''rōt'', itself from Old Norse ''rót''.


History

The domestication of beetroot can be traced to the emergence of an
allele An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution. ::"The chro ...
which enables
biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...
harvesting of leaves and taproot. Beetroot was domesticated in the ancient Middle East, primarily for their greens, and were grown by the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. By the Roman era, it is thought that they were cultivated for their roots as well. From the Middle Ages, beetroot was used as a treatment for a variety of conditions, especially illnesses relating to digestion and the blood.
Bartolomeo Platina Bartolomeo Sacchi (; 1421 – 21 September 1481), known as Platina (in Italian ''il Platina'' ) after his birthplace (Piadena), and commonly referred to in English as Bartolomeo Platina, was an Italian Renaissance humanist writer and gastro ...
recommended taking beetroot with garlic to nullify the effects of "garlic-breath". During the middle of the 19th century, wine often was coloured with beetroot juice. Food shortages in Europe following World War I caused great hardships, including cases of '' mangelwurzel'' disease, as relief workers called it. It was symptomatic of eating only beetroot.


Culinary use

Usually the deep purple roots of beetroot are eaten boiled, roasted, or raw, and either alone or combined with any salad vegetable. The green, leafy portion of the beetroot is also edible. The young leaves can be added raw to salads, whilst the mature leaves are most commonly served boiled or steamed, in which case they have a taste and texture similar to
spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either fr ...
. Beetroot can be roasted, boiled or steamed, peeled, and then eaten warm with or without butter as a delicacy; cooked, pickled, and then eaten cold as a
condiment A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is served separat ...
; or peeled, shredded raw, and then eaten as a salad. Pickled beetroot is a traditional food in many countries.


Eastern Europe

In Eastern Europe, beetroot soup, such as
borscht Borscht () is a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word "borscht" is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which give ...
ussianand barszcz czerwony olish is common. In Poland and Ukraine, beetroot is combined with horseradish to form ''ćwikła'' or ''бурячки'' (buryachky), which is traditionally used with cold cuts and sandwiches, but often also added to a meal consisting of meat and potatoes. Similarly in Serbia beetroot (referred to by the local name ''cvekla'') is used as winter salad, seasoned with salt and vinegar, with meat dishes. As an addition to horseradish, it is also used to produce the "red" variety of ''
chrain ( cs, křen; sk, chren; german: Meerrettich or ; pl, chrzan; ro, hrean; russian: хрен, khren; uk, хрiн, khrin; yi, כריין, khreyn; he, חזרת, khazeret; meaning "horseradish" in all these languages) is a spicy paste made of g ...
'', a condiment in
Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
, Hungarian, Polish,
Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
,
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
, and
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
cuisine. is an old-time traditional Russian
cold soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingre ...
made from leftover beet greens and chopped beetroots, typically with bread and kvass added. Botvinya got its name from Russian ''botva'', which means "root vegetable greens", here referring to beet plant leaves. , or svyokolnik, is yet another Russian beet-based soup, typically distinguished from borscht in that vegetables for svekolnik are cooked raw and not fried, whilst many types of borscht typically include fried carrots and other fried vegetables. Svekolnik got its name from ''svekla'' or ''svyokla'', which are two Russian words for "beet". Sometimes, various types of cold borscht are also called "svekolnik".


India

In Indian cuisine, chopped, cooked, spiced beetroot is a common side dish. Yellow-coloured beetroots are grown on a very small scale for home consumption.Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden; CTA, Wageningen.


North America

Besides standard fruit and vegetable dishes, certain varieties of beets are sometimes used as a garnish to a
tart A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes wit ...
.


Northern Europe

A common dish in Sweden and elsewhere in the Nordic countries is Biff à la Lindström, a variant of meatballs or burgers, with chopped or grated beetroot added to the minced meat. In Northern Germany, beetroot is mashed with ''
Labskaus Labskaus () is a culinary speciality from northern Germany and in particular from the cities of Bremen, Hamburg, and Lübeck. The main ingredients are salted meat or corned beef, potatoes, and onion. Some recipes put beetroot, pickled gherkin, or ...
'' or added as its side order.SPIEGEL Online on Labskaus in Hamburg
(German), Der Spiegel
Labskaus mit Rote-Bete-Salat
(German), recipe at NDR


Industrial production and other uses

A large proportion of the commercial production is processed into boiled and sterilised beetroot or into pickles.
Betanin Betanin, or Beetroot Red, is a red glycosidic food dye obtained from beets; its aglycone, obtained by hydrolyzing away the glucose molecule, is betanidin. As a food additive, its E number is E162. The color of betanin depends on pH; between fou ...
, obtained from the roots, is used industrially as red
food colorant Food coloring, or color additive, is any dye, pigment, or substance that imparts color when it is added to food or drink. They come in many forms consisting of liquids, powders, gels, and pastes. Food coloring is used in both commercial food ...
, to improve the color and flavor of
tomato paste Tomato paste is a thick paste made by cooking tomatoes for several hours to reduce the water content, straining out the seeds and skins, and cooking the liquid again to reduce the base to a thick, rich concentrate. It is used to impart an intens ...
, sauces, desserts, jams and jellies, ice cream, candy, and
breakfast cereal Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in ...
s. When beetroot juice is used, it is most stable in foods with a low water content, such as frozen novelties and fruit fillings. Beetroot can be used to make wine.


Nutrition

Raw beetroot is 88% water, 10% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and less than 1%
fat In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...
(see table). In a amount providing of
food energy Food energy is chemical energy that animals (including humans) derive from their food to sustain their metabolism, including their muscular activity. Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the carbohyd ...
, raw beetroot is a rich source (27% of the Daily Value - DV) of folate and a moderate source (16% DV) of manganese, with other nutrients having insignificant content (table).


Health effects

A clinical trial review reported that consumption of beetroot juice modestly reduced systolic blood pressure but not diastolic blood pressure.


Safety

The red colour compound
betanin Betanin, or Beetroot Red, is a red glycosidic food dye obtained from beets; its aglycone, obtained by hydrolyzing away the glucose molecule, is betanidin. As a food additive, its E number is E162. The color of betanin depends on pH; between fou ...
is not broken down in the body, and in higher concentrations may temporarily cause urine or stools to assume a reddish color, in the case of urine a condition called
beeturia Beeturia is the passing of red or pink urine after eating beetroots or foods colored with beetroot extract or beetroot pigments. The color is caused by the excretion of betalain (betacyanin) pigments such as betanin. The coloring is highly variab ...
. Although harmless, this effect may cause initial concern due to the visual similarity to what appears to be
blood in the stool Blood in stool looks different depending on how early it enters the digestive tract—and thus how much digestive action it has been exposed to—and how much there is. The term can refer either to melena, with a black appearance, typically origi ...
,
hematochezia Haematochezia is the passage of fresh blood through the anus path, usually in or with stools (contrast with melena). The term is from Greek αἷμα ("blood") and χέζειν ("to defaecate"). Hematochezia is commonly associated with lower gastr ...
(blood passing through the anus, usually in or with stool) or hematuria (blood in the urine). Nitrosamine formation in beetroot juice can reliably be prevented by adding
ascorbic acid Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) and ...
.


Cultivars

Below is a list of several commonly available cultivars of beetroot. Generally, 55 to 65 days are needed from germination to harvest of the root. All cultivars can be harvested earlier for use as greens. Unless otherwise noted, the root colours are shades of red and dark red with different degrees of zoning noticeable in slices.


See also

* List of Lepidoptera that feed on beetroot


Gallery

File:Beets-Bundle.jpg, A bundle of beetroot File:Rote Bete eine Haelfte.jpg, Section through taproot File:Gelbe Bete Randen Beetroot.jpg, Yellow beetroot File:Borscht served.jpg,
Borscht Borscht () is a sour soup common in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. In English, the word "borscht" is most often associated with the soup's variant of Ukrainian origin, made with red beetroots as one of the main ingredients, which give ...
File:Salad of grated beet and apple C IMG 4352.JPG, Salad of grated beetroot and apple File:Christmas foods (5300034752).jpg, Finnish ''
rosolli In Finnish cuisine, rosolli is a salad eaten mostly as a cold side dish, in particular as part of the traditional Finnish Christmas meal. Overview Rosolli is made of cooked, diced root vegetables, especially beetroot, carrot and potato, often ...
'' File:Rote Beete - sauer eingelegt (8987-89).jpg, Sliced, pickled beetroot File:Chrain3.jpg, Red ''
chrain ( cs, křen; sk, chren; german: Meerrettich or ; pl, chrzan; ro, hrean; russian: хрен, khren; uk, хрiн, khrin; yi, כריין, khreyn; he, חזרת, khazeret; meaning "horseradish" in all these languages) is a spicy paste made of g ...
'' is made with beetroot File:Beet juice-01.jpg, Beetroot juice File:Uncommon beetroot colours.jpg, Golden, red, and white beetroots (left to right). File:Roasted beetroot.jpg, Roasted beetroot File:Beetroot jm27942.jpg, Root and cross section of cultivar 'Chioggia' File:Beetroot jm27944.jpg, Root and cross section of a yellow cultivar File:Chioggiabeettart.jpg, Chioggia Beet Tart


References


External links

* {{Authority control Beta (plant) Leaf vegetables Root vegetables