Beet Beta maritima, beta vulgaris Quite a large family which includes Swiss chard, seakale beet, mangelwurzel, leaf beet, sugar beet and spinach beet. The leaves of these plants have been eaten by Man since prehistory and are native to a large area ranging from the British Isles to India. Archaeologists believe that their earliest origins may have been in the Mediterranean, and varieties are still to be found growing wild as far as Iran. The roots were being eaten by about 300BC, although many cultures saw these primarily as medicinal for many centuries. Theophrastus referred to the beet in his writings., as did Pliny, who referred to their use in salads, and Apicius, the great Roman gourmet and cookery writer, included it in his viridian, or greens, for broth. The red beet was introduced to Britain in the 17th century, our common beets all having been a lighter, yellow colour to this point, much to the delight of Gerard, who saw it as an excellent addition to salads. In 1590 the French botanist Olivier de Serres extracted sugar syrup from the roots of one of the members of the beta vulgaris group, but it wasn’t until around 1800, when Frederick the Great of Prussia lent his support to German chemist, Karl Franz Achard, that the beet was taken seriously as a source of sugar and a small factory was set up. Twelve years later, during the Napoleonic wars, Napoleon himself ordered full scale production of sugar from beets to replace the cane sugar which was no longer available to France. Not without difficulties, the industry grew until beet was the major source of sugar in Northern Europe. The nutritional pros for beets are that the anthocyanins which give the vegetable its colour - the purple pigment, betacyanin with yellow pigment, betaxanthin, are what give the beet its vivid redness - are antioxidant and can help to protect against cancer. The same properties also make beet a good blood cleanser and immune booster, further backed up by its vitamin A and vitamin C content. The colourants are very stable, making it the most reliable and one of the safest plant-based colourings. It also contains iron, safeguarding against anaemia and the leaves are rich in folates, also known as folic acid, which is used to help prevent birth defects. In addition, the leaves also contain xeaxanthin and lutein, which are thought to protect against macular degeneration, a common cause of blindness in the elderly and which are also powerful anti-carginogens. On the down side, the oxalic acid in dark green leaf vegetables such as beet leaf can hinder the absorption of calcium, bad news for those in the deficiency risk groups, such as post-menopausal women. 100g of beet contains 47 kcalories, composed of fats, carbohydrate, fibre, sodium, protein vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and manganese. 100g of beet leaf equals 23 kcalories made up of fats, carbohydrate, fibre sodium, protein, a good deal of vitamin A, vitamin C, Iron and manganese.