It originates in India, belongs to the family Quenopodiaceae and to the genus Beta.
Bi-annual plant that during the first year develops a thick root and a rosette of leaves and the second year it emits an inflorescence in panicle. It has a yellowish-greenish and rough root pivoting, little showy flowers and hermaphrodites and woody seeds attached to the chalice.
In several countries is the crop that produces more nutritive value in relation to the surface and the main producing countries are France, Germany and the United States.
