f319 Beetroot

f319 Beetroot Scientific Information

Type:

Whole Allergen

Display Name:

Beetroot

Family:

Chenopodiaceae

Latin Name:

Beta vulgaris craca

Other Names:

Beetroot, Beets, Garden beets, Table beets

Clinical Relevance

IgE-mediated reactions

Anecdotal evidence suggests that Beetroot can occasionally induce symptoms of food allergy in sensitised individuals; however, no studies have been reported to date.

Other reactions

Beetroot is known to produce red urine in some people following its ingestion, whereas others appear to be able to eat the vegetable with impunity(1,2) .Beeturia is the excretion of red Beetroot pigment (betalaine) in urine and faeces. It occurs in about 14% of humans.

Betalaine is a redox indicator whose colour is protected by reducing agents. Thus, beeturia results from colonic absorption of betalaine: oxalic acid preserves the red colour through to the colon; otherwise, in non-beeturic individuals, betalaine is decolourised by non-enzymatic processes in the stomach and colon (3).

Beetroot has one of the highest nitrate contents found in vegetables (4).Beetroot is also high in oxalate (5).

Molecular Aspects

No allergens from this plant have yet been characterised.

A gene has been isolated from a Beta vulgaris, which encodes for a protein that resembles members of the Latex allergen Hev b 5 family (6). A gene encoding for a chitinase with a hevein-like domain was isolated from the leaves of the close family member Sugar beet. The gene is activated by fungal infection. Whether these proteins are clinically significant, or also present in the close family relative Beetroot, has not yet been determined (7).

Cross-reactivity

An extensive cross-reactivity among the different individual species of the genus could be expected, as well as to a certain degree among members of the family Chenopodiaceae (8).

Compiled By

Last reviewed: April 2022

References

Mitchell SC. Food idiosyncrasies: beetroot and asparagus.Drug Metab Dispos 2001;29(4 Pt 2):539-43
Pearcy RM, Mitchell SC, Smith RL. Beetroot and red urine.Biochem Soc Trans 1992;20(1):22S
Eastwood MA, Nyhlin H. Beeturia and colonic oxalic acid. QJM 1995;88(10):711-7
Yman L. Botanical relations and immuno-logical cross-reactions in pollen allergy. 2nd ed. Pharmacia Diagnostics AB. Uppsala. Sweden. 1982: ISBN 91-970475-09
Finch AM, Kasidas GP, Rose GA. Urine composition in normal subjects after oral ingestion of oxalate-rich foods.
Clin Sci (Lond) 1981;60(4):411-8
Fowler MR, Gartland J, Norton W, Slater A, Elliott MC, Scott NW. RS2: a sugar beet gene related to the latex allergen Hev b 5 family.
J Exp Bot 2000;51(353):2125-6
Berglund L, Brunstedt J, Nielsen KK, Chen Z, Mikkelsen JD, Marcker KA. A proline-rich chitinase from Beta vulgaris.
Plant Mol Biol 1995;27(1):211-6
Petersen A, Stoltze S. Nitrate and nitrite in vegetables on the Danish market: content and intake.
Food Addit Contam 1999;16(7):291-9