Sugar beet
The temperate-zone root crop that supplies nearly a third of the world's sugar.
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Sugar beet is a plant grown commercially for its high-sucrose root.[1] The root's composition is 75% water, approximately 20% sugar, and 5% pulp, though sugar content can range from 12% to 21% depending on variety and conditions.[2] As a cash crop, sugar beet's main economic value comes from its sugar content.[3]
Biology and range
Unlike sugarcane, which is restricted to tropical and subtropical regions, sugar beets are only cultivated in temperate zones.[4] The plant's foliage reaches roughly 35 cm in height and displays a vivid, bright green color.[4] From the beet's crown, numerous broad leaves emerge in a clustered formation.[4] The sea beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima) is the nearest wild relative of the sugar beet.[5]
Optimal growing conditions occur when temperatures stay between 15 and 21 °C during the months of growth.[4] For an average crop without irrigation, at least 460 mm of rainfall is required.[4] Strong winds cause damage by creating a crust on the soil that blocks young beet plants from sprouting.[4] Beets grown near the equator experience shorter days and more intense heat, which significantly lowers their sugar content.[4]
What the specialist sources record
George Rolph's 1873 book states that sugar beet crops exhaust the soil rapidly and crop rotation is necessary.[6][4] The same source explains that the syrup is made by boiling beets for several hours, then boiling the collected liquid for 12 hours.[7] The University of Maryland report notes that dried beet pulp and leftover material make nutritious livestock feed.[8] According to the same source, beet cultivation begins with deep ploughing as its fundamental practice.[6][4]
A 2016 report from the University of Maryland states that preliminary findings show sugar beets can yield between 860 and 900 gallons of ethanol per acre.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Sugar beet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sorting Beta names", Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database, 4 May 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sugar beet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dohm, "The genome of the recently domesticated crop plant sugar beet (Beta vulgaris)", Nature, 18 December 2013, p. 546–549; "Agribusiness Handbooks, vol. 4: Sugar Beets / White Sugar", 1999 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sugar beet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Agribusiness Handbook: Sugar beet white sugar", Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sugar beet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: George Rolph, "Something about sugar: its history, growth, manufacture and distribution", San Francisco, J. J. Newbegin, 1873 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sugar beet" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Beta Maritima: The Origin of Beets", Springer, 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- George Rolph, "Something about sugar: its history, growth, manufacture and distribution", San Francisco, J. J. Newbegin, 1873. facts only, no text reused. archive.org
- "Fjut - Arca del Gusto", Fondazioneslowfood.com. facts only, no text reused. fondazioneslowfood.com
- "Sugar beets ~ a reliable source of biofuel?", University of Maryland, 21 October 2016. facts only, no text reused. wwwcp.umes.edu
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Sugar beet (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Sugar beet (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the Codexery glossary, each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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