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By Harold McGee
Published 2004
A fourth group of plant pigments is the betains, which are only found in a handful of distantly related species. However, these include three popular and vividly colored vegetables: beets and chard (both varieties of the same species), amaranth, and the prickly pear, the fruit of a cactus. The betains (sometimes called betalains) are complex nitrogen-containing molecules that are otherwise similar to anthocyanins: they are water-soluble, sensitive to heat and light, and tend toward the blue in alkaline conditions. There are about 50 red betains and 20 yellow betaxanthins, combinations of which produce the almost fluorescent-looking stem and vein colors of novelty chards. The human body has a limited ability to metabolize these molecules, so a large dose of red beets or prickly pears can give a startling but harmless tinge to the urine. The red betains contain a phenolic group and are good antioxidants; yellow betaxanthins don’t and aren’t.