Techno-commercial Aspects of Relevance to Red Beet

While Chap. 1 of this book provides an overview of what has been researched in red beet, this chapter tries to put red beet into the newer arena of diverting its current progress towards newer technologies and applications. Beets have unlimited applications, from food, fodder, fuel and pharmaceutical to ornamentals and environmental cleansing agents; this means that the allied technologies span from moderate to very high-tech ventures. Scientifically, as a model system, beet has contributed continuously to our knowledge of cellular physiologies of primary metabolism, energy conservation in the form of sugar synthesis and sequestration processes of primary and secondary metabolites. In the field of genetics, their ever-diversifying nature and amazing adaptability to newer environments have mesmerized scientists. Red beet occupies a position among the top ten vegetables for its antioxidant capacity, cancer-prevention activities and instant blood pressure control. However, it is essential to supplement the current knowledge with innovative scientific methods in terms of validation, characterization and further onward integration of processes through advanced mechanotronics to develop mainstream food products. Treating in vitro cultures and normal beet plant with innovative biotechnologies such as metabolic engineering and genetic modification is expected to significantly improve the sustainable production of a wide array of food, pharmaceuticals and bio-energy products. To realize these potentials, the probable technological leaps that are needed are discussed in this chapter.