Beet. Properties, content.

Characteristics of Beet. Scientific name. Identification, characteristics, origin, content and active ingredients of beet.

Identification and origin of the Beet plant

Scientific name: Beta vulgaris

Beetroot is a biennial herb with stems up to 1.25 m height. Leaves simple, petiolate, ovate or oblong, become linear bracts in the inflorescence. Flowers are small, numerous, greenish, clustered in a large and diffuse terminal panicle. The parts used are roots.

It is native of coastal areas of Europe, North Africa, Asia from Turkia to India and cultivated in many countries.

Content and active ingredients of Beet

The main active ingredients of the beet are:

Carbohydrates: sucrose between 15 to 20%, glucose, fructose, other polysaccharides such as galactose, arabinose, pectin.
Amino acids: glutamine, asparagine.
Betaine (trimethylglycine)
Volatile constituents: pyridine and geosmin
Protein 1.6%
Lipids 0.2%
Vitamins: A, B, C and minerals