noun
Refers to the plant Beta vulgaris grown for sugar production. Common in agricultural and food contexts.
北海道では甜菜の栽培が盛んです。
Sugar beet cultivation is thriving in Hokkaido.
この砂糖は甜菜から作られています。
This sugar is made from sugar beets.
Katakana spelling is common in everyday use, as the word is usually written in kana.
From Chinese 甜菜 (tiáncài), literally 'sweet vegetable'. The kanji 甜 means 'sweet' and 菜 means 'vegetable' or 'greens'.