Sugarbeet

                General Information                

Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris)

Hesitory 

      The sugarbeet is native to the Mediterranean area (Asia Anterior), Where it was cultivated as far back as about 2000 to 1500 years B.C. The sugarbeet roots used to contain not more than 8 to 10% sugar some 160 years ago. Now, the best of current varieties have a high sugar content, some as much as 18 to 20 %, and even more.

Unlike sugarcane, the sugarbeet is a very new arrival as a crop plant.  The first mention of the sugar (sucrose) content in beets came in 1747.  This discovery by Andreas Marggrat ,a German chemist, led to the development of the sugarbeet industry in Europe.  The Austro-Hungarian, German, and French nations were anxious for a source of sugar.  Britain controlled much of the sugar trade.  Napoleon  was an early champion of the beet industry (1).  

     The first mention of the sugar (sucrose) content in beets came in 1747.  This discovery by Andreas Marggrat ,a German chemist, led to the development of the sugarbeet industry in Europe.  The Austro-Hungarian, German, and French nations were anxious for a source of sugar.  Britain controlled much of the sugar trade.  Napoleon was an early champion of the beet industry. (1)

          Cane sugar continued to be the main source of sugar in Europe until the Napoleonic Wars, which took place between France and Britain from 1793-1815.

          During this period the British Navy blockaded French ports preventing goods from being imported.  The farming of sugar beet then developed rapidly on mainland Europe in order to replace cane sugar.

        Once it was found that the crop grew well in European climates, sugar from beet began to rival sugar from cane and, by 1880, beet was the main source of sugar in Europe.

Britain's interest in sugar beet arose during World War I (1914-1918), when the British supply of cane sugar was greatly reduced as German U-boats sunk the trading ships.  The British Government decided to intervene and began persuading farmers to grow sugar beet. Since then, Britain has produced a significant proportion of its sugar from this source (2).

           - The first beet seeds were imported into the USA to New England in 1879 and 1882.  

           -  The first sugar beet factory appeared in North American in California  in 1869, the Flint, Bixby and Co. but  this industry didn't spread to other areas until the 1880s.(3)

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(1) http://teach1.cses.vt.edu/cses3444/3444lec24.html

(2) http://www.britishsugar.co.uk/IsolatedStorage/94175874-67b5-4c33-9f38-380233f14049/RenderSystem/Gateway/Core/RVEe24abbb33b93496a9b07a5dee9c82270,,.aspx

(3) http://www.remmick.org/Montana.Memories/Page9.2.html

(4) http://www.yourart.com/research/encyclopedia.cgi?subject=/beet

Click Developing of production of sugar in Egypt from 1982-2007 to see this information

Last update 1/6/2007

Classification:

From  http://www.plantkingdom.com/

Kingdom  : Plantae

Subkingdom  : Tracheobionta (Vascular Plants)

    Superdivistion   : Spermatophyta (Seed Plants)

         Divistion:  Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)

             Class: Magnoliopsida (Dicotyledons)

                 Subclass : Caryophyllidae

                      Order: Caryophyllales

                         Family:Chenopodiaceae

                           Genus: Beta

                                Species: vulgaris var. saccharifera

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Several sites mention this information ,i.e.

Interactive European Network for Industrial Crops and their Applications (ienica) , New Crops for Australia

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Stephen_Nottingham/beetroot3.htm

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But other sites reported another information

For example   http://www.museums.org.za/bio/plants/amaranthaceae/

Life; Embryophyta (plants);

 Angiospermae (flowering plants);

 Order: Caryophyllales)

Family :Amaranthaceae (sugarbeet, spinach family)

Subfamily: Chenopodioideae (formerly in family Chenopodiaceae)

• Beta. About 12 species, found mainly in Europe and the Mediterranean. Includes Beta vulgaris (Beetroot, Sugarbeet, Mangel-wurzel), which has become established as an escapee from cultivation in southern Africa, mainly in the Western Cape.

Beta vulgaris (Beetroot, Sugarbeet, Mangel-wurzel)

• All the varieties of this domestic species ultimately originate from wild Sea Beet Beta maritima which is indigenous to the Mediterranean and the Atlantic seaboard of Europe.

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A section is a taxonomic subdivision of a genus. Sections were first erected within the genus Beta in 1927.

The sugar beet belongs to the family Chenopodiaceae .

Its genus is  Beta

1. Beta vulgaris - Chenopodiaceae family

2. Beta maritima - Sea beet

Beta vulgaris cicla :A cultivated form of B. vulgaris maritima that is grown for its edible leaves

There are 4 varieties of   Beta vulgaris Z. ,

1)      v. saccharifera belongs to the same variety as Beta vulgaris v. saccharifera

2)      The field beet (v. crassa)  Beta vulgaris v. crassa

3)      Chard (v. cicla)   Beta vulgaris v. cicla

4)      And table beet (v. esculenta)  Beta vulgaris v. esculenta

5)      B. Maritima is No commercial use

Common names:

·        CHINESE : Tang tian cai,    Tang luo bo,     Tang yong tian cai.

·        CZECH : Flepa cukrová.

·        DANISH : Sukkerroe.

·        DUTCH : Suikerbiet.

·        ENGLISH : Sugarbeet, Sugar beet.

·        ESTONIAN : Suhkrupeet.

·        FINNISH : Sokerijuurikas.

·        FRENCH : Betterave sucrière.

·        GERMAN : Zuckerrübe.

·        HEBREW : Selek sukar.

·        ITALIAN : Barbabietola da zucchero, Barbabietola zuccherina.

·        JAPANESE : Satou daikon.

·        NORWEGIAN : Sukkerbete.

·        PORTUGUESE : Beterraba-açucareira, Beterraba-sacarina.

·        RUSSIAN : Svëkla sakharnaia.

·        SLOVENIAN : Navadna pesa, Sladkorna pesa.

·        SPANISH : Betarraga azucarera, Remolacha azucarera (Argentina).