The carrot is scientifically known as dacus carota it is a tuber. It is basically orange in color but red, purple, white and yellow varieties are also known. It derives its name from a French word. The texture of the carrot is crunchy when fresh. The most commonly eaten portion of carrot is the taproot, but the leaves are also edible. The carrot is native to Europe and southwestern Asia. The domestic carrot is generally grown for its flavorful, less woody, and edible taproot.
The carrot is a biennial plant that develops a rosette of leaves in spring and summer. The main root is strong and stores large amounts of sugars so that the plant produces flowers in the second year. The floral stem reaches a height of 1 m. the flowers are borne in an umbel and are white. The flowers produce the fruit called a mericarp, which is a typical example of a schizocarp. They are consumed in a wide variety of forms. Only 3% of the β-carotene is released from carrots during digestion, but this fraction can be increased to 39% by cooking, pulping, and adding oil to the carrots. They can be chopped, steamed, fried, or boiled to make stews, soups, baby and pet foods. Grated carrots are used in carrot cakes and carrot puddings. The leaves are also edible, but are rarely eaten by humans.
In India, carrots are eaten raw in salads or boiled and cooked in a number of delicacies. They are also grated and cooked in milk and then garnished with butter and nuts to make a very popular North Indian dessert known as Gajar ka Halwa. Carrot salads are very popular in the western parts of India and are prepared by grating the carrots and then garnished with mustard seeds and green chillies and then cooked in hot oil. The carrot variety found in North India is very rare everywhere except Central Asia. The North Indian carrot is reddish-pink in color. Baby carrots or baby carrots have also been available in supermarkets since the 1980s. They can be used as ready-to-eat snacks. Carrot juice is widely available in markets as a health drink and is often mixed with fruits and vegetables.
Carrots are useful companion plants for gardeners. If intercropped with tomatoes, tomato production increases, a study suggests. If allowed to produce flowers, they attract predatory wasps that kill other insect pests. The bright orange-red color of carrots is due to the presence of a pigment known as β-carotene. This pigment, along with bile salts from the intestine, is metabolized to produce vitamin A. Massive overconsumption of carrots results in a benign condition known as carotenosis, in which the color of the skin turns orange-red. They are also very rich in dietary fiber, antioxidants, and minerals.
Lack of vitamin A in the diet can lead to poor vision, including night vision, and vision can be restored by adding it back to the diet. The roots are used to treat digestive problems, intestinal parasites, and tonsillitis or constipation. Cultivated varieties can be grouped into two categories, namely Eastern carrots and Western carrots. Oriental varieties were cultivated in Iran and Afghanistan. They are purple or yellow in color. The purple color of these varieties is due to the presence of anthocyanin pigments. Western carrots arose in the 17th century in the Netherlands from Iran. They are orange in color due to the abundance of carotenes in them. The flowers are usually pollinated by bees, but seed growers often use mason bees or honey bees for pollination, depending on their needs. They are often used as food by the larvae of many lepidopteran insects. According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), China was the largest producer of carrots and turnips in 2005. They are usually stored covered and refrigerated.
Young carrots have a 2-week shelf life, while older ones can last up to 3-4 weeks. Removing the cap increases the shelf life. Exposure to ethylene gas makes them bitter, and they also absorb the smell of apples and pears.