The beet root plant, known under the bionomial name, Beta vulgaris, belongs to the amaranthaceae family . It is most widely consumed as a vegetable. Beta vulgaris is a herbaceous plant with leafy stems growing to a height of 1–2 meters in height. The leaves are found to be heart-shaped and achieve a length of 5–20 and sometimes even more in the cultivated plants. The arrangements of flowers are in the form of spikes with each flower being very small of about 3–5 mm in diameter. They are either green or reddish and contain five petals. The pollination in these plants mainly takes place through the wind. The fruit s occur in clusters and form hard nutlets .

Myriad varieties of beet root plants are cultivated for their taproots , leaves or swollen midribs. These plants are classified under the order Caryophyllales and the genus Beta.

Nutritional value :

Red beet root ranks high in mineral content from zinc, magnesium, potassium, phosphorous, iron to calcium. Also found in high concentration are vitamin c, Folate, Vitamin B6, Pantithenic acid, Niacin and Thiamine.

Uses & Health Benefits :

Beetroot is widely used for treating fevers, inflammation and constipation . It is often used in combination with other ingredients for the preparation of laxative s. Many people employ beet leaves for healing the wounds. In a few European countries, beetroot juice has been considered to be an effective aphrodisiac . It also finds wide usage in the treatment of stomach and blood disorders.

References :

Hanelt, Peter; Büttner, R.; Mansfeld, Rudolf; Kilian, Ruth (2001), Mansfeld's Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops , Springer, pp. 235–241, ISBN   3540410171

Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys, Leiden ; CTA, Wageningen.

Weird Foods from around the World

Making Wild Wines & Meads ; Pattie Vargas & Rich Gulling; page 73

Keritot 6a; Horiyot 12a; Rabbenu Nissim at the end of Rosh Hashana, citing the custom of Rav Hai Gaon; Abudraham; Shulchan Aruch OC 583:1

Apicius De Re Coquinaria 3.2.1, 3, 4

Platina De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine , 3.14

Carmen Socaciu (2008). Food colorants: chemical and functional properties . Washington , DC : Taylor & Francis. pp.  169 . ISBN   0-8493-9357-4 .