Beetroot Extract (Nitrate Standardised)

Beetroot extract is a water extract of the swollen storage root of Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris (Conditiva Group), the red garden beet. Roots are washed, sliced, extracted in water, concentrated under vacuum and spray dried, either carrier-free or onto maize maltodextrin. The extract is standardised on nitrate — the anion the plant accumulates from soil nitrogen — assayed by ion chromatography or HPLC-UV. Trade grades commonly sit at 1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0% and 6.5% NO3−, set against roughly 250–400 mg nitrate per 100 g of fresh beet in the raw root. Published surveys of retail beet products have found nitrate content varies enormously between suppliers, which is precisely why an assayed, stated figure carries more commercial weight than a nominal extract ratio. Nitrate is the specified marker but not the whole composition. The colour comes from betalains — principally betanin and isobetanin among the betacyanins and vulgaxanthin I among the betaxanthins — and fresh red beet is reported at roughly 30–60 mg betanin and 65–120 mg total betalains per 100 g. Where a buyer's specification is written on pigment rather than nitrate, betalain-standardised grades (typically 0.5–1.0% total betalains) are supplied instead. Beet extract also carries the root's native sugars and organic acids, which is worth accounting for in sugar-declared and low-carbohydrate formats. Material supplied as a food colour to E162 specification is a different article on a different spec sheet and is quoted separately. Two practical points govern how this ingredient behaves in a plant. First, nitrate-rich beet extracts are markedly hygroscopic and heat- and light-sensitive: they cake if exposed, and the betalain colour shifts on prolonged heating, so blending and filling should run under controlled humidity with desiccant in the pack. Second, nitrite is screened and reported on every certificate, with the limit fixed by agreement. On regulatory framing: the ADI for nitrate established by the SCF and JECFA and reconfirmed by EFSA is 3.7 mg/kg body weight per day, which formulators use to size a serving; the nitrate maximum levels in Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 apply to named leafy vegetables and infant foods, not to beetroot extract, so no maximum level attaches directly to this article. The extract is vegan and vegetarian, with no milk, egg, soy, fish, crustacean, nut or gluten input, and the maize maltodextrin carrier where used is itself gluten-free.