The Romans first domesticated Beets in the 1st century BC, and Aristotle even mentioned their wild form in his writings on natural remedies. Today, beets are grown for many reasons, including fodder for animals and, of course, as a root vegetable. With their long history of medicinal use, we want to answer: do beets have quercetin?
Quick Answer: Yes – Beets do contain quercetin. Compared to other similar foods, their quercetin content is low.
Quercetin Content of Beets
Beets supply 0.13mg of quercetin per 100-gram serving, but they are rich in Betaine and betalain.
Are Beets High in Quercetin?
Compared to other foods, Beets are pretty low in quercetin.
Let’s take a look at how they compare to 5 similar foods.
- Another popular root vegetable, radishes, contains no quercetin.
- Carrots are slightly higher in quercetin than beets providing 0.21mg/100g.
- Parsnips offer 7.6 times the quercetin found in beets.
- Turnips have no quercetin content.
- Sweet potatoes have much less quercetin than beets, only supplying 0.01mg/100g.
Sources:
USDA Database for the Flavonoid Content of Selected Foods: https://www.ars.usda.gov/arsuserfiles/80400525/data/flav/flav_r03.pdf
Hill, G.; Langer, R. H. M. (1991). Agricultural plants. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 197–199.
Hey, I’m Joey. I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid and love everything about it. You can find my writing about food, kitchen appliances (such as blenders) and much more. Thanks for stopping by!
