CARROT

The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow
cultivars exist. Carrots are a domesticated form of the wild carrot, Daucus carota, native to Europe
and southwestern Asia. The plant probably originated in Persia and was originally cultivated for its
leaves and seeds. The most commonly eaten part of the plant is the taproot, although the stems
and leaves are eaten as well. The domestic carrot has been selectively bred for its greatly
enlarged, more palatable, less woody-textured taproot.

The carrot is a biennial plant in the umbellifer family Apiaceae. At first, it grows a rosette of leaves
while building up the enlarged taproot. Fast-growing cultivars mature within three months (90
days) of sowing the seed, while slower-maturing cultivars are harvested four months later (120
days). The roots contain high quantities of alpha- and beta-carotene, and are a good source of
vitamin K and vitamin B6, but the belief that eating carrots improves night vision is a myth put
forward by the British in World War II to mislead the enemy about their military capabilities.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that world production of
carrots and turnips (these plants are combined by the FAO) for the calendar year 2013 was 37.2
million tonnes; almost half (~45%) were grown in China. Carrots are widely used in many cuisines,
especially in the preparation of salads, and carrot salads are a tradition in many regional cuisines.

HISTORY
The domestic carrot has a single origin in Central Asia. Its wild ancestors probably originated in
Persia , which remains the centre of diversity for the wild carrot Daucus carota. A naturally
occurring subspecies of the wild carrot was presumably bred selectively over the centuries to
reduce bitterness, increase sweetness and minimise the woody core; this process produced the
familiar garden vegetable.

A depiction labeled "garden" carrot from the Juliana Anicia Codex, a 6th-century AD
Constantinopolitan copy of Dioscorides' 1st-century Greek pharmacopoeia. The facing page states
that "the root can be cooked and eaten.

When they were first cultivated, carrots were grown for their aromatic leaves and seeds rather
than their roots. Carrot seeds have been found in Switzerland and Southern Germany dating back
to 2000–3000 BC.Some close relatives of the carrot are still grown for their leaves and seeds, such
as parsley, cilantro, coriander, fennel, anise, dill and cumin. The first mention of the root in
classical sources is from the 1st century AD; the Romans ate a root vegetable called pastinaca,
which may have been either the carrot or the closely related parsnip.

Consumption
Carrots can be eaten in a variety of ways. Only 3 percent of the β-carotene in raw carrots is
released during digestion: this can be improved to 39% by pulping, cooking and adding cooking oil.
Alternatively they may be chopped and boiled, fried or steamed, and cooked in soups and stews,
as well as baby and pet foods. A well-known dish is carrots julienne. Together with onion and
celery, carrots are one of the primary vegetables used in a mirepoix to make various broths.

The greens are edible as a leaf vegetable, but are rarely eaten by humans; some sources suggest
that the greens contain toxic alkaloids. When used for this purpose, they are harvested young in
high-density plantings, before significant root development, and typically used stir-fried, or in
salads. Some people are allergic to carrots. In a 2010 study on the prevalence of food allergies in
Europe, 3.6 percent of young adults showed some degree of sensitivity to carrots.Because the
major carrot allergen, the protein Dauc c 1.0104, is cross-reactive with homologues in birch pollen
(Bet v 1) and mugwort pollen (Art v 1), most carrot allergy sufferers are also allergic to pollen from
these plants.

NUTRICION
The carrot gets its characteristic, bright orange colour from β-carotene, and lesser amounts of α-
carotene, γ-carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin. α- and β-carotenes are partly metabolized into
vitamin A,providing more than 100% of the Daily Value (DV) per 100 g serving of carrots (right
table). Carrots are also a good source of vitamin K (13% DV) and vitamin B6 (11% DV), but
otherwise have modest content of other essential nutrients (right table).

Carrots are 88% water, 4.7% sugar, 0.9% protein, 2.8% dietary fiber, 1% ash and 0.2% fat. Carrot
dietary fiber comprises mostly cellulose, with smaller proportions of hemicellulose, lignin and
starch Free sugars in carrot include sucrose, glucose and fructose.

The lutein and zeaxanthin carotenoids characteristic of carrots are studied for their potential roles
in vision and eye health.