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Beet
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The beet (Beta vulgaris) is a plant in the amaranth family. It is best known its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is probably the red root vegetable known as the garden beet. However, other cultivated varieties include the leaf vegetables chard and spinach beet, as well as the root vegetables sugar beet, which is important in the production of table sugar, and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop. Three subspecies are typically recognised.
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The beet (Beta vulgaris) is a plant in the amaranth family. It is best known its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is probably the red root vegetable known as the garden beet. However, other cultivated varieties include the leaf vegetables chard and spinach beet, as well as the root vegetables sugar beet, which is important in the production of table sugar, and mangelwurzel, which is a fodder crop. Three subspecies are typically recognised. All cultivated varieties fall into the subspecies Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris, while Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima, commoly known as the sea beet, is the wild ancestor of these and is found throughout the Mediterranean, the Atlantic coast of Europe, the Near East, and India. A second wild subspecies, Beta vulgaris subsp. adanensis, occurs from Greece to Syria.
The beet has a long history of cultivation stretching back to the second millennium BC. The plant was probably domesticated somewhere along the Mediterranean, whence it was later spread to Babylonia by the 8th century BC and as far east as China by 850 AD. Available evidence, such as that provided by Aristotle and Theophrastus suggests that the leafy varieties of the beet were grown primarily for most of its history, though these lost much of their popularity much later following the introduction of spinach. The beet became highly commercially important in 19th century Europe following the development of the sugar beet in Germany and the discovery that sucrose could be extracted from them, providing an alternative to tropical sugar cane. It remains a widely cultivated commercial crop for producing table sugar.
Beta vulgaris is a herbaceous biennial or rarely perennial plant with leafy stems growing to 1-2 m tall. The leaves are heart-shaped, 5-20 cm long on wild plants (often much larger in cultivated plants). The flowers are produced in dense spikes, each flower very small, 3-5 mm diameter, green or tinged reddish, with five petals; they are wind-pollinated. The fruit is a cluster of hard nutlets.
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of the various wild and cultivated races of beets has a long and complicated history. Mansfeld's Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops following Letschert's 1993 treatment of Beta section Beta recognizes the following taxa:
- Beta all cultivated varieties of the beet, which are grown for their tubers, leaves, or swollen midribs.
- B. v. ssp. vulgaris convar. cicla (leaf beets) - The leaf beet group has a long history dating to the second millennium BC. The first cultivated forms were believed to have been domesticated in the Mediterranean, but were introduced to the Middle East, India, and finally China by 850 AD. These were used as medicinal plants in Ancient Greece and Medieval Europe. Their popularity declined in Europe following the introduction of spinach.
- B. v. ssp. v. convar. cicla. var. cicla (spinach beet) - This variety is widely cultivated for its leaves, which are usually cooked like spinach. It can be found in many grocery stores around the world.
- B. v. ssp. v. convar. cicla. var. flaviscens (chard) - Chard is grown for its leaves, which have thick and fleshy midribs that are used as a vegetable. Some cultivars are also grown ornamentally for their coloured midribs. The thickened midribs are thought to have arisen from the spinach beet by mutation.
- B. v. ssp. vulgaris convar. vulgaris (tuberous beets) - This grouping contains all beets grown for their thickend tubers rather than their leaves.
- B. v. ssp. v. convar. vulgaris var. crassa (mangelwurzel) - This variety was developed in the 1700s for its tubers for use as a fodder crop
- B. v. ssp. v. convar. vulgaris var. altissima (sugar beet) - The sugar beet is a major commercial crop due to its high concentrations of sucrose, which is extracted to produce table sugar. It was developed in Germany in the late 18th century after the roots of beets were found to contain sugar in 1747.
- B. v. ssp. v. convar. vulgaris var. vulgaris (garden beet) - This is the red root vegetable that is most typically associated with the word 'beet'. It is especially popular in Eastern Europe where it is the main ingredient of borscht.
Uses
Food
Spinach beet leaves are eaten as a pot herb. Young leaves of the garden beet are sometimes used similarly. The midribs of Swiss chard are eaten boiled while the whole leaf blades are eaten as spinach beet.
In Africa the whole leaf blades are usually prepared with the midribs as one dish.
The leaves and stems of young plants are steamed briefly and eaten as a vegetable; older leaves and stems are stir-fried and have a flavour resembling taro leaves.
The usually deep-red roots of garden beet are eaten boiled either as a cooked vegetable, or cold as a salad after cooking and adding oil and vinegar. A large proportion of the commercial production is processed into boiled and sterilised beets or into pickles. In Eastern Europe beet soup, such as cold borscht, is a popular dish. Yellow-coloured garden beets are grown on a very small scale for home consumption.
Beetroot can be peeled, steamed, and then eaten warm with butter as a delicacy; cooked, pickled, and then eaten cold as a condiment; or peeled, shredded raw, and then eaten as a salad. Pickled beets are a traditional food of the American South. It is also common in Australia and New Zealand for pickled beetroot to be served on a hamburger.
One increasingly popular preparation involves tossing peeled and diced beets with a small amount of oil and seasoning, then roasting in the oven until tender.
A traditional Pennyslvania German (US) dish is Red Beet Eggs. Hard-boiled eggs are refrigerated in the cooking liquid of pickled beets and allowed to marinate until the eggs turn a deep pink-red color.
Betanins, obtained from the roots, are used industrially as red food colourants, e.g. to intensify the colour of tomato paste, sauces, desserts, jams and jellies, ice cream, sweets and breakfast cereals.
Beet pulp is fed to horses that are in vigorous training or conditioning and to those that may be allergic to dust from hay.
Beetroot can also be used to make wine.
Medicine
The roots and leaves of the beet have been used in folk medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments. Modern research is investigating in further detail how beet extracts could be used to protect normal and diabetic livers, as well as their effects on elevated cholesterol in individuals with cancer, and other medical maladies.
The Romans used beetroot as a treatment for fevers and constipation, amongst other ailments. Apicius in De re coquinaria gives five recipes for soups to be given as a laxative, three of which feature the root of beet. Hippocrates advocated the use of beet leaves as binding for wounds.
Beet juice can help lower blood pressure. Research published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension showed drinking 500ml of beetroot juice led to a reduction in blood pressure within one hour. The reduction was more pronounced after three to four hours, and was measurable up to 24 hours after drinking the juice.
Since Roman times, beetroot juice has been considered an aphrodisiac. The juice is a rich source of boron, which plays an important role in the production of human sex hormones. Field Marshal Montgomery is reputed to have exhorted his troops to 'take favours in the beetroot fields', a euphemism for visiting prostitutes.
From the Middle Ages, beetroot was used as a treatment for a variety of conditions, especially illnesses relating to digestion and the blood. Platina recommended taking beetroot with garlic to nullify the effects of 'garlic-breath'.
Beetroot has been used as a treatment for cancer in Europe for several centuries. The pigment molecule betanin in the root of red beets are under investigation as the cause of the plant's purpoted protective effects. Hungarian oncologist Ferenczi recommended beetroot juice as an effective cancer treatment. Recent scientific research has shown that beetroot can inhibit tumour growth and has antioxidant properties that may even help prevent development of oncogenesis.
Other uses>
Cultivars with large, brightly coloured leaves are grown for decorative purposes.
Beets are used as a food plant by the larvae of a number of Lepidoptera species.
Cultivation
Beets are cultivated for fodder (e.g. mangelwurzel), for sugar (the sugar beet), as a leaf vegetable (chard or "Bull's Blood"), or as a root vegetable ("beetroot", "table beet", or "garden beet"). Major root vegetable cultivars include:
- "Albina Vereduna", a white variety
- "Burpee's Golden", a beet with orange-red skin and yellow flesh.
- "Chioggia", an open-pollinated variety originally grown in Italy. The concentric rings of its red and white roots are visually striking when sliced. As a heritage variety, Chioggia is largely unimproved and has relatively high concentrations of geosmin.
- "Detroit Dark Red", with relatively low concentrations of geosmin, and is therefore a popular commercial cultivar in the United States.
- "India Beet" is not as sweet as Western beet. However India beet is more nutritious than Western beet.
- "Lutz Greenleaf", a variety with a red root and green leaves, and a reputation for maintaining its quality well in storage.
- "Red Ace", the principal variety of beet found in the United States, typical for its bright red root and red-veined green foliage.
"Blood Turnip" was once a common name for beet root cultivars for the garden. Examples include: Bastian's Blood Turnip, Dewing's Early Blood Turnip, Edmand Blood Turnip, and Will's Improved Blood Turnip.
The "earthy" taste of some beetroot cultivars comes from the presence of geosmin. Researchers have not yet answered whether beets produce geosmin themselves, or whether it is produced by symbiotic soil microbes living in the plant. Nevertheless, breeding programs can produce cultivars with low geosmin levels yielding flavours more acceptable to consumers.
Beets are one of the most boron-intensive of modern crops, a dependency possibly introduced as an evolutionary response its pre-industrial ancestor's constant exposure to sea spray; on commercial farms, a 60 tonne per hectare (26.8 ton/acre) harvest requires 600 grams of elemental boron per hectare (8.6 ounces/acre) for growth. A lack of boron causes the meristem and the shoot to languish, eventually leading to heart rot.
Red/Purple Coloring
The color of red/purple beetroot is due to a variety of betalain pigments, unlike most other red plants, such as red cabbage, which contain anthocyanin pigments. The composition of different betalain pigments can vary, giving breeds of beetroot which are yellow or other colors in addition to the familiar deep red. Some of the betalains in beets are betanin, isobetanin, probetanin, and neobetanin (the red to violet ones are known collectively as betacyanin). Other pigments contained in beet are indicaxanthin and vulgaxanthins (yellow to orange pigments known as betaxanthins). Indicaxanthin has been shown as a powerful protective antioxidant for thalassemia, as well as prevents the breakdown of alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E).
Betacyanin in beetroot may cause red urine in some people who are unable to break it down. This is called beeturia.
The pigments are contained in cell vacuoles. Beetroot cells are quite unstable and will 'leak' when cut, heated, or when in contact with air or sunlight. This is why red beetroots leave a purple stain. Leaving the skin on when cooking, however, will maintain the integrity of the cells and therefore minimise leakage.
History
The sea beet, the ancestor of modern cultivated beets, prospered along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Beetroot remains have been excavated in the Third dynasty Saqqara pyramid at Thebes, Egypt, and four charred beetroot fruits were found in the Neolithic site of Aartswoud in the Netherlands. But it is difficult to determine whether these are domesticated or wild forms of B. vulgaris. Zohary and Hopf note that beetroot is "linguistically well identified." They state the earliest written mention of the beet comes from 8th century BC Mesopotamia. The Greek Peripatetic Theophrastus later describes the beet as similar to the radish, while Aristotle also mentions the plant. Roman and Jewish literary sources suggest that by the 1st century BC the domestic beet was represented in the Mediterranean basin primarily by leafy forms like chard and spinach beet. Zohary and Hopf also argue that it is very probable that beetroot cultivars were also grown at the time, and some Roman recipies support this. Later English and German sources show that beetroots were commonly cultivated in Medieval Europe.
The rise of the sugar beet
Modern sugar beets date back to mid-18th century Silesia where the king of Prussia subsidised experiments aimed at processes for sugar extraction. In 1747 Andreas Marggraf isolated sugar from beetroots and found them at concentrations of 1.3-1.6%. He also demonstrated that sugar could be extracted from beets that was the same as that produced from sugarcane. His student, Achard, evaluated 23 varieties of mangelwurzel for sugar content and selected a local race from Halberstadt in modern-day Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. A man named Koppy and his son further selected from this race for white, conical tubers. The selection was named 'Weiße Schlesische Zuckerrübe', meaning white Silesian sugar beet, and boasted about a 6% sugar content. This selection is the progenitor of all modern sugar beets.
A royal decree led to the first factory devoted to sugar extraction from beetroots being opened in Kunern, Silesia (now Konary, Poland) in 1801. The Silesian sugar beet was soon introduced to France where Napolean opened schools specifically for studying the plant. He also ordered that 28,000 hectares (69,200 acres) be devoted to growing the new sugar beet. This was in response to British blockades of cane sugar during the Napoleonic Wars, which ultimately stimulated the rapid growth of a European sugarbeet industry. By 1840 about 5% of the world's sugar was derived from sugar beets, and by 1880 this number had risen more than ten fold to over 50%. The sugar beet was introduced to North America after 1830 with the first commercial production starting in 1879 at a farm in Alvarado, California. The sugar beet was also introduced to Chile via German settlers around 1850.
External links
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- - Plants For a Future Database entry
- - general information about beets (UW article)
- - multilingual listing of the Beta species
- - Detailed nutritional information.
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