Table Beet

Table beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris L) is a vegetable from the family Chenopodiaceae. Table beet is also known as garden beet or red beet in the U.S. scientific literature, and as beetroot in Europe and many other countries around the world. Table beet is a member of a crop complex from the genus Beta that includes Swiss chard, mangel, and sugarbeet. All three of these crops are derived from the same species, vulgaris, and are often represented with different subspecies designations. Table beet and Swiss chard are primarily used as vegetables, the mangel and its derivatives are used as animal feed, and the sugarbeet is used as a source of sucrose. Table beet breeding has been recently reviewed by Goldman and Navazio (2003) and we draw from sections of their work in this chapter.