Beet, called late vegetable in ancient times, belongs to Chenopodiaceae. Sugarbeet varieties are divided into wild species and cultivated species. There are many kinds of wild sugar beets, which are widely distributed and have different classifications. There are four varieties of cultivated beet, namely leaf beet, flame beet, feed beet and sugar beet. Leaf beet (Beta vol.garis L.Var.Cicle), commonly known as sweet potato, has thick leaves and is edible. Leaf beet was introduced into China from Arabia in the 5th century, and it was mainly planted in the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins. Beet, commonly known as red beet, has purplish red roots and leaves and edible tubers, so it is also called edible beet. At present, it is still planted in large areas in countries such as the former Soviet Union. Feed beet (Beta vulgaris L.Var.Cicle) is a kind of crop specially used as livestock feed, with high yield of root tuber, which can reach 4000 ~ 5500 kg. However, the sugar content of feed beet root tuber is low, usually only 5 ~ 10 degrees. At present, Europe has a large planting area, and there are specialized breeding institutions engaged in the breeding of feed beet varieties. Beet (Beta vulgaris L. Var.saccharifera), commonly known as sugar basket, is the main source of sugar industry because of its high sugar content.

Material, so it is also the most fully developed and utilized cultivated variety in sugar beet.

First of all, beets

As a sugar crop, the scientific research of sugar beet began in the second half of18th century, and it has only been more than 200 years. The history of beet cultivation in China is shorter. According to official records, China began to introduce beet seeds for trial planting in Shenyang in 1906, and built the first beet sugar factory in Ashe River, Heilongjiang Province in 1908. Then1916 ~1921was successfully introduced and planted in some provinces in north China. 1936 ~ 1940, Xiangcan was successfully introduced in northwest areas such as Xinjiang, Gansu and Shaanxi. In the early days of the founding of New China, the sugar beet planting area reached 230,000 mu. After decades of development, there are more than 10 sugarbeet planting provinces in China, covering an area of 6.5 million to 8.5 million mu. There are nearly 90 beet factories in China, with an annual output of sugar1.20 ~1.8000 tons, accounting for about 25% of the national sugar output. The main beet producing areas are concentrated in the inland or frontier provinces such as Northeast China, North China and Northwest China, which has played a positive role in the local economic development. In the future, due to the adjustment of agricultural structure, sugar beet planting area may decline. Therefore, the focus of sugar beet production and scientific research and development in the future will still be to stabilize sugar content in sugar beet and improve yield per unit area. In recent 50 years, more than 1 10 new sugarbeet varieties have been bred and approved in China. Due to the large east-west span and different ecological conditions in China's sugar beet planting areas, there are still nearly 20 sugar beet varieties popularized in production at present. This paper introduces the varieties that are being popularized and have a large planting area.

Second, the development, utilization and prospect of sugar beet

Beets are treasures. The main product of beet is sugar. Sugar is an indispensable nutrient in people's lives, and it is also an important raw material for food industry, beverage industry and pharmaceutical industry. Besides producing sucrose, sugar beet and its by-products have broad development and utilization prospects.

1. Utilization of beet stems and leaves

Beet stems and leaves are ideal juicy green feed, which not only contains general nutrients needed by livestock, but also contains carotene, which can supplement the deficiency of vitamin A in feed and increase the content of vitamin A in dairy products. See table 14-2 for its nutritional components. Beet stems and leaves can also be used as fertilizer to return to the field, improve soil fertility and increase the content of organic matter in the soil.

2. Utilization of plant roots

The moisture content of sugarbeet root is 75%, and the solid content is 25%. In solid substances, sucrose accounts for 16% ~ 18%, and non-sugar substances account for 7% ~ 9%. Non-sugar substances are divided into soluble and insoluble: insoluble non-sugar mainly includes cellulose, hemicellulose, protopectin and protein; Soluble sugar is inorganic sugar and organic sugar. Inorganic non-sugar is mainly potassium, sodium, magnesium and other salts; Organic non-sugar can be subdivided into nitrogen-containing and nitrogen-free. Nitrogen-free non-sugar includes fat, pectin, reducing sugar and organic acid; Nitrogen-containing non-sugar is protein and non-protein. Non-protein and non-sugar mainly refer to betaine, amide and amino acid. The by-products of beet sugar industry are mainly about 3.5% sugar and 7.5% non-sugar substances in root tuber and other non-sugar substances put in and discharged during processing.

(1) beet pulp. In the process of sugar making, the residue after cutting and leaching beet root is processed into beet residue. Usually, every processing 1 ton of beet root produces 0.9 tons of beet pulp at the same time. Beet meal contains 93% water and about 7% dry matter. Dry matter is rich in various amino acids, vitamins and trace elements, and is an ideal feed for raising pigs and cattle. See table 14-3 for its contents. Beet pulp is squeezed by a twin-screw (or single-screw) press, and then dried to make dried beets.

Dry rice. Because of high carbohydrate content, starch value and total digestible nutrients, beet dry meal can be used as concentrated feed. Moreover, due to less protein and high calorific value, it can adjust the nutritional balance of high protein when combined with high protein concentrated feed and roughage, and it tastes sweet, so it is an ideal feed for cattle industry. When used, it should be soaked in water first, otherwise it will easily cause abdominal distension of livestock. In order to improve the nutritional value of beet dry pulp, waste molasses and other nutritional components can be added to beet dry pulp to make molasses or nutritious beet granular pulp. Sugar beet granule powder is made from dried sugar beet powder by further processing. Its nutritional components and use value are the same as those of dried beet pulp, but it is more convenient for packaging, transportation and management. Since 1980s, the production of beet pellet meal in China has developed rapidly, with an annual output of over 654.38 million tons. At present, most beet factories in China are equipped with beet pellet meal production lines.

② Production and utilization of pectin. Cellulose and hemicellulose in sugar beet are insoluble in water, so they will not move into sugar juice during sugar soaking, but remain in waste meal. Protein, ash, saponin, etc. Most of them remain in the waste food. Only pectin is in the state of combining with cellulose, which can be hydrolyzed into soluble pectin at a certain temperature and under acidic or alkaline conditions, and become a harmful substance that affects cleaning and crystallization after entering sugar juice. Therefore, in the process of sugar production, more than 90% pectin can be left in beet residue by controlling the soaking temperature. The process of extracting pectin from beet pulp is simple, that is, the beet pulp is heated and hydrolyzed, and then pectin is separated from the waste residue to prepare primary pectin. When primary pectin is mixed with cement and gypsum slag, foamed silicate products can be produced, which meets the technical requirements of the construction industry for thermal insulation materials, so the cost is low. This technology is simple and easy to operate, which is beneficial to environmental protection and has a good development prospect.

③ Production of waste honey and utilization of carbon dioxide. Low-grade molasses produced in the process of sugar production cannot be returned to sugar production. This molasses is called waste honey, and its output is about 4% of beet processing. The first is the production of fermented products. Most fermented products made from starch can be made from waste honey. Because of the low price of waste honey, the output value of the product

High; The economic benefit is good, so all beet factories in China use waste honey to produce fermented products. The main products are: alcohol, organic solvents (such as acetone, butanol, ethanol), glycerol, yeast, glutamic acid, monosodium glutamate, citric acid and so on. Secondly, as feed, waste honey can be used as artificial livestock feed because it contains sugar, vitamins, amino acids and some trace elements. For example, it can stimulate appetite, help digestion, increase milk production, and promote metabolism and physical development.

Third, other types of beets.

1. feed beet

(Betavvlgarls L.Var.Cicle) is one of the four common sugar beet varieties in the common sugar beet group. Feed beet is a special feed crop for raising cattle and pigs. The sugar content of root tuber is low, usually only 5 ~ 10 degree, but the yield is high, reaching 60 ~ 80 tons/hectare. In Europe, the planting area is very large. And there are specialized feed beet breeding institutions engaged in the scientific research of feed beet varieties. In order to avoid losses to sugar beet factories, some European countries stipulate that the root bark color of feed sugar beet should be different from that of sugar beet. Therefore, feed beet breeders introduce color genes into the root bark of feed beet, so that the root tuber of feed beet we see at present has various colors, such as light red, light pink, golden yellow and light yellow.

Feed beet tubers are mostly cylindrical, and more than two-thirds of them are above the ground. The number of blades is very small. The root ditch is shallow and smooth, and there is little soil when harvesting. Because the root tuber not only contains some sugar, but also contains various vitamins, carbohydrates, fats and mineral salts needed to maintain the normal growth and development of livestock, it is a juicy feed with high nutritional value. As a feed crop, it has a good development prospect in China. Especially with the improvement of people's living standards in our country, the consumption of milk will increase greatly, which will certainly promote the development of dairy industry, so the development prospect of feed beet is broad. In addition, feed beet is a rare genetic resource. Using its good root shape, smooth root breeding (spherical root breeding) can be selected by crossing with sugar beet, or high-yield materials can be selected by using its high-yield genes. At present, there are no specialized research institutions in China. Only a few areas in China have a small amount of cultivation. All varieties are imported from abroad, mainly from the former Soviet Union.

2. Leaf beet

(Beta vvlgarls L.Var.Cicle) is commonly known as pachyderm. Thick leaves, developed leaves and long petioles. It has strong cold resistance and summer heat resistance. It can be eaten as a vegetable, as well as as as a herb and feed.

Leaf beet was separated from coastal beet in the Near East, and was later introduced to Europe, India, China and other places. This is the earliest domesticated beet. Some people think that the original type of the first leaf beet was planted in Mesopotamia about 4000 years ago. It was introduced into China from Arabia in the 5th century. In China, leaf beets are mainly distributed in the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins, and planted in the southwest of China. Leaf beets in China have been preliminarily divided into five types: white leaf beets, green leaf beets, four-season leaf beets, rolled leaf beets and red leaf beets. At present, leaf beets are still planted as vegetables in some areas. In addition, leaf sugar beet is often used for breeding sugar beet or fodder sugar beet because of its resistance to brown spot and stress. However, other economic potential of leaf beet needs to be studied and developed.

Edible beet

(Beta vvlgarls L.Var.cruanla Alef) is commonly known as red beet. Roots and leaves are purple, so they are also called flame vegetables. The root tuber is edible. Similar to radish, it is slightly sweet when eaten raw, and can be used as a side dish to decorate cold dishes or as a raw material for carving dishes, with very bright colors; You can also make soup. As a vegetable, it is still planted in many countries of the former Soviet Union. In addition, it can also be used as an ornamental plant. Other economic potential of edible beet needs to be studied and developed.