Beetroot, formerly known as sugar beet, alias: sugar beet, Latin name: Beta?vulgaris?L. English name: beet, Quinoa, beet, biennial herb, root conical to fusiform, juicy. Stem erect, ± branched, with striped ribs and color bars. Basal leaves rectangular, widely cultivated, great variation, is divided into a number of subspecies, varieties and variants. There are also many varieties now cultivated in China, and the sources of introductions are very heterogeneous. Sweet flavor. Evolved from a wild plant called sea beet that grows along the Mediterranean coast. The beet has a reddish flame and is now known as the flame beet.? The beet leaves are also an edible vegetable.

Morphological features

A biennial herb with conical to fusiform, succulent roots. Stem erect, more or less branched, with stripes and color bars. Basal leaves rectangular, 20-30 cm long, 10-15 cm wide, long-petiolate, wrinkled and uneven above, slightly glossy, with stoutly projecting veins below, entire or slightly undulate, apex obtuse, base cuneate, truncate, or slightly cordate; petiole stout, convex below, flat or sulcate above; cauline leaves alternate, smaller, ovate or lanceolate-rectangular, apex acuminate, base attenuate into a short stalk.

Flowers in clusters of 2-3, connate with each other at base of perianth when fruiting; perianth lobes barred or narrowly moment-rounded, becoming leathery and arching inward when fruiting. Utricles proximally sunk in hardened perianth, distally slightly fleshy.

Seeds biconvex lenticular, 2-3 mm in diam., reddish brown, glossy; embryo ringlike, pale white; endosperm powdery, white. Fl. May-June, fr. July.

The main product of sugar beet is sugar. Sugar is an indispensable nutrient for people's life, and is also an important raw material for food industry, beverage industry and pharmaceutical industry. In addition to the production of cane sugar, sugar beet and its by-products have a wide range of prospects for development and utilization.