SUGAR BEET

variety of beet (Beta vulgaris, Saccharifera Alefeld variety), a biennial plant of the Chenopodiaceae family. It is cultivated for its juice, from which sugar is processed. This article treats the cultivation of the sugar beet plant. For information on the processing of beet sugar and the history of its use, see the article sugar. The sugar beet has long been grown as a summer crop in relatively cool northern parts of the temperate zones of the world, and recently, it has been grown as a winter crop in the southern parts of the temperate zones: South America, Africa, the Near and Middle East, and south Europe. variety of beet (Beta vulgaris) that is second only to sugarcane as the major source of the world's sugar. Sugar beets can be grown in temperate or cold climates in Europe, North America, and Asia and thus within the densely populated, well-developed areas where much of the product is consumed. In contrast, sugarcane can be grown only in tropical or subtropical regions. The sugar beet was grown as a garden vegetable and for fodder long before it was valued for its sugar content. Sugar was produced experimentally from beets in Germany in 1747 by the chemist Andreas Marggraf, but the first beet-sugar factory was built in Silesia in 1802. Napoleon became interested in the process in 1811 because the British blockade had cut off the French Empire's raw sugar supply from the West Indies, and under his influence 40 factories to process beet sugar were established in France. The industry temporarily collapsed after Napoleon's fall but recovered in the 1840s. Beet-sugar production then increased rapidly throughout Europe; by 1880 the tonnage had overtaken that of cane sugar. Beet sugar now accounts for almost all sugar production in continental Europe and for almost one-third of total world production. Major producers with the highest sugar yields are France, Germany, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and the United States. Sugar beets are grown from seed, typically sown early in the spring. Sucrose, a product of photosynthesis, is stored in the root, which can grow to 12 kg (2.24.4 pounds) and can contain from 8 to 22 percent sucrose by weight. The plants are harvested in the late autumn, the leaves and root crowns being shorn off before the roots are lifted by machine. Beet yields range from 15 to 115 metric tons per hectare (5 to 50 tons per acre). Additional reading Russell T. Johnson et al. (eds.), Advances in Sugarbeet Production: Principles and Practices (1971). Takeo Yamane The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica