1) Many plant roots have the ability to store food reserves, and in some species the root is further modified into a fleshy storage organ like carrots, sweet potatoes, and beets. 2) These storage roots provide food and energy for the plant's next season of growth, and have internal structures similar to normal roots but with more extensive parenchyma tissue for storing carbohydrates, sugars, starches, and proteins. 3) In beets specifically, the storage root increases in size through concentric rings of vascular cambium and storage parenchyma cells, with the phloem being the major system for transporting food reserves into and out of the root.

1. P R E S E N T E D B Y : B A D A L K . B A R O C H I Y A
M A R S H A L K . B A R O C H I Y A
FOOD STORAGE ROOT

2. Food Storage roots
Most mature roots have the
capacity to store food reserves.
In some species, the root is further
modified as a fleshy storage organ.
Food crops like sweet potatoes, carrots
and beets are modified storage roots.

3. Many herbaceous perennials,
such as peony, overwinter as
a crown attached to the
storage root.
The crown is a compressed
stem with buds that will form
the above ground vegetative
growth.
The storage root is also
called a tuberous root
and provides the food and
energy for next season’s growth.

4. The internal structure of a
storage root is similar to non
fleshy roots except that there
is more extensive parenchyma
tissue where the food reserves
are stored.
Cross
section
of a
tuberous root.

5. Food reserves stored in the
parenchyma cells usually
include carbohydrates
(sugars and starch) and
proteins.
The blue stained organelles
in these root cells are
protein bodies.

6. In beets, the increase in storage root size is due to concentric rings of
vascular cambium and storage parenchyma cells.

7. A closer look at a vascular
bundle in beet storage roots
shows that the storage
parenchyma cells surround a
vascular bundle with only a
few secondary xylem cells
(red stain), a line of vascular
cambial cells and numerous
phloem elements.
The phloem is the major
transport system used to
load and unload the root
with food reserves.