the.com/beet
a root so red it once dyed the Soviet Union's official lipstick and your dinner plate alike
means A round, edible root vegetable, usually deep red, prized for its sweet flavor and used in dishes from borscht to salads — and also the source of much of the world's sugar.
from From Old English 'bete', borrowed from Latin 'beta', the Romans' name for the plant. The Latin word's deeper roots are murky, possibly from a Celtic source. The plant's many descendants — table beet, sugar beet, chard, mangelwurzel — all spring from the same wild seashore ancestor of the Mediterranean coast.
- sugar source
- Half the world's sugar comes from beets, not cane
- false alarm
- Can turn urine pink, mimicking blood scares
- same plant
- Beets, chard, and sugar beets are all one species
- ancient medicine
- Romans prized them as an aphrodisiac
- nitrate boost
- Beet juice measurably improves athletic endurance
golden beet — yellow-fleshed variety grown commercially, sweeter than red beets with 8-10% sugar content
chioggia beet — italian heirloom with concentric red and white rings, cultivated in chioggia, veneto since the 18th century
detroit dark red — american standard variety developed in 1892, most common commercial beet in north america