Beetroot

A bundle of beetroot

The beetroot is the taproot portion of the beet plant,^[1] usually known in North America as the beet, also table beet, garden beet, red beet, or golden beet. It is several of the cultivated varieties of Beta vulgaris grown for their edible taproots and their leaves (called beet greens). These varieties have been classified as B. vulgaris subsp. vulgaris Conditiva Group.^[2]

Other than as a food, beets have use as a food colouring and as a medicinal plant. Many beet products are made from other Beta vulgaris varieties, particularly sugar beet.

Uses

Food

Section through taproot

Yellow beetroot

The usually deep purple roots of beetroot are eaten either boiled, roasted or raw, either alone or combined with any salad vegetable. A large proportion of the commercial production is processed into boiled and sterilised beets or into pickles. In Eastern Europe, beet soup, such as borscht, is a popular dish. In Indian cuisine, chopped, cooked, spiced beet is a common side dish. Yellow-coloured beetroots are grown on a very small scale for home consumption.^[3]

The green, leafy portion of the beet is also edible. It is most commonly served boiled or steamed, in which case it has a taste and texture similar to spinach. Those selected should be bulbs that are unmarked, avoiding those with overly limp leaves or wrinkled skins, both of which are signs of dehydration.

Beetroot can be boiled or steamed, peeled and then eaten warm with or without 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 in many countries.

A traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dish is pickled beet egg. Hard-boiled eggs are refrigerated in the liquid left over from pickling beets and allowed to marinate until the eggs turn a deep pink-red colour.

In Poland and Ukraine, beet is combined with horseradish to form popular ćwikła, which is traditionally used with cold cuts and sandwiches, but often also added to a meal consisting of meat and potatoes. The same in Serbia where the popular 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, a popular condiment in Ashkenazi Jewish, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian cuisine.

When beet juice is used, it is most stable in foods with a low water content, such as frozen novelties and fruit fillings.^[4] 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.^[3]

Beetroot can also be used to make wine.^[5]

Food shortages in Europe following World War I caused great hardships, including cases of mangelwurzel disease, as relief workers called it. It was a consequence of eating only beets.^[6]

• Beetroot as food
• 

  Borscht

• 

  Salad of grated beet and apple

• 

  Finnish rosolli

• 

  Sliced, pickled beetroot

• 

  Chrain with beet

• 

  Beetroot juice drink

Other uses

Betanin, obtained from the roots, is used industrially as red food colorant, to improve the color and flavor of tomato paste, sauces, desserts, jams and jellies, ice cream, sweets, breakfast cereals, etc.^[3]

Historical uses

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 recommended taking beetroot with garlic to nullify the effects of "garlic-breath".^[7]

Preliminary research

In preliminary research, beetroot juice reduced blood pressure in hypertensive individuals^[8] and so may have an effect on mechanisms of cardiovascular disease.^[9][10]

Beets contain betaines which may function to reduce the concentration of homocysteine,^[11] a homolog of the naturally occurring amino acid cysteine. High circulating levels of homocysteine may be harmful to blood vessels and thus contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease.^[12] This hypothesis is controversial as it has not yet been established whether homocysteine itself is harmful or is just an indicator of increased risk for cardiovascular disease.^[12][13]

Nutrition

Per 100 gram serving providing 43 calories, beetroot is an excellent source (20% of the Daily Value, DV) of folate and a good source (14% DV) of manganese, with other nutrients in low amounts (see table displayed at right).^[14]

Safety

The red colour compound betanin is not broken down in the body, and in higher concentrations may temporarily cause urine and stool to assume a reddish colour; in the case of urine this is called beeturia.^[15] This effect may cause distress and concern due to the visual similarity to what appears to be blood in the stool, hematuria (blood in the urine), or hematochezia (blood passing through the anus, usually in or with stool). These deceptive appearances are completely harmless and subside once the betanin is out of the system. In the cases of reddish feces, the bright redness from betanin is in contrast to what occurs with melena (very dark or blackish feces) which often indicates that bleeding is occurring further up the digestive system, and is more likely to be a serious problem.

Nitrosamine formation in beet juice can reliably be prevented by adding ascorbic acid.^[16]

Cultivars

Below is a list of several commonly available cultivars of beets. 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.

Variously coloured varieties

See also

• List of Lepidoptera that feed on beets

References

External links

Media related to Beetroot at Wikimedia Commons