betaine Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a sweet tasting alkaloid that occurs in sugar beets

WordNet

Be"ta*ine noun
Etymology
From beta, generic name of the beet.
Definitions
  1. (Chem.) A nitrogenous base, C5H11NO2, produced artificially, and also occurring naturally in beetroot molasses and its residues, from which it is extracted as a white crystalline substance; -- called also lycine and oxyneurine. It has a sweetish taste. not the amino acid lysine

Webster 1913