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Carrot

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Food and agriculture;
Plants

                    iCarrot
   Harvested carrots
   Harvested carrots
           Scientific classification

   Kingdom:  Plantae
   Division: Magnoliophyta
   Class:    Magnoliopsida
   Order:    Apiales
   Family:   Apiaceae
   Genus:    Daucus
   Species:  D. carota

                                Binomial name

   Daucus carota
   L.
                Carrot, raw
   Nutritional value per 100 g
          Energy 40 kcal   170 kJ

   Carbohydrates                   9 g
   - Sugars  5 g
   - Dietary fibre  3 g
   Fat                             0.2 g
   Protein                         1 g
   Thiamin (Vit. B1)  0.04 mg      3%
   Riboflavin (Vit. B2)  0.05 mg   3%
   Niacin (Vit. B3)  1.2 mg        8%
   Vitamin B6  0.1 mg              8%
   Vitamin C  7 mg                 12%
   Calcium  33 mg                  3%
   Iron  0.66 mg                   5%
   Magnesium  18 mg                5%
   Phosphorus  35 mg               5%
   Potassium  240 mg               5%
   Sodium  2.4 mg                  0%
      Percentages are relative to US
   recommendations for adults.

   A carrot (Daucus carota) is a root vegetable, usually orange or white
   in colour with a woody texture. The edible part of a carrot is a
   taproot. It is a biennial plant which grows a rosette of leaves in the
   spring and summer while building up the stout taproot, which stores
   large amounts of sugars for the plant to flower in the second year. The
   flowering stem grows to about 1 m tall, with umbels of white flowers.

Uses

   Carrots can be eaten raw, whole, chopped or grated into salads for
   colour, and are also often chopped and cooked in soups and stews. A
   well known dish is Carrots Julienne. One can also make carrot cake and
   carrot pudding. The greens are edible as a leaf vegetable, but are
   rarely eaten. Together with onion and celery, carrots are one of the
   primary vegetables used in a mirepoix to make various broths.
   Carrot Flowers
   Enlarge
   Carrot Flowers

   Since the late 1980s, baby carrots or mini carrots, carrots that have
   been peeled and cut into uniform cylinders, have been a popular
   ready-to-eat snack food in many supermarkets.

   β-carotene, a dimer of Vitamin A, is abundant in the carrot and gives
   this vegetable its characteristic orange colour. Furthermore, carrots
   are rich in dietary fibre, antioxidants, and minerals.

   Carrot juice is also widely marketed.

History

   The wild ancestors of the carrot are likely to have come from
   Afghanistan, which remains the centre of diversity of D. carota. The
   familiar wild plant wild carrot, sometimes called Queen Anne's lace, is
   the same species as the garden carrot (which was bred from it); garden
   carrots that run to seed soon revert to their wild prototype, with a
   forking carroty-smelling, edible root that quickly becomes too woody
   and bitter to eat. The parsnip is a close relative of the carrot.

Cultivars

   Carrots come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes
   Enlarge
   Carrots come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes

   Carrot cultivars can be grouped into two broad classes: eastern carrots
   and western carrots. More recently, a number of novelty cultivars have
   been bred for particular characteristics.

Eastern carrots

   Eastern carrots were domesticated in Central Asia, probably in
   modern-day Afghanistan in the 10th century or possibly earlier. Those
   of the eastern carrot that survive to the present day are commonly
   purple or yellow in color, and often have branched roots. The purple
   colour common in these carrots comes from anthocyanin pigments.

Western carrots

   Carrots with multiple taproots (forks) are not specific cultivars, but
   are a byproduct of damage to earlier forks, often associated with rocky
   soil.
   Enlarge
   Carrots with multiple taproots (forks) are not specific cultivars, but
   are a byproduct of damage to earlier forks, often associated with rocky
   soil.

   The Western carrot emerged in the Netherlands in the 15th or 16th
   century, its orange colour making it popular in those countries as an
   emblem of the House of Orange and the struggle for Dutch independence.
   The orange colour results from abundant carotenes in these cultivars.
   While orange carrots are nearly ubiquitous in the West, other colors do
   exist, including white, yellow, red, and purple. These other colors of
   carrot are raised primarily as novelty crops.

   The Vegetable Improvement Centre at Texas A&M University has developed
   a purple-skinned, orange-fleshed carrot, the BetaSweet (also known as
   the Maroon Carrot), with substances to prevent cancer, which has
   recently entered commercial distribution.

   Western carrot cultivars are commonly classified by their root shape:
     * 'Imperator' carrots are the carrots most commonly sold whole in
       U.S. supermarkets; their roots are longer than other cultivars of
       carrot, and taper to a point at the tip.
     * 'Nantes' carrots are nearly cylindrical in shape, and are blunt and
       rounded at both the top and tip. Nantes cultivars are often sweeter
       than other carrots.
     * 'Danvers' carrots have a conical shape, having well-defined
       shoulders and tapering to a point at the tip. They are somewhat
       shorter than Imperator cultivars, but more tolerant of heavy soil.
       Danvers cultivars are often pureed as baby food.
     * 'Chantenay' carrots are shorter than other cultivars, but have
       greater girth, sometimes growing up to 8 cm (3 inches) in diameter.
       Shapewise, they have broad shoulders and taper towards a blunt,
       rounded tip. They are most commonly diced for use in canned or
       prepared foods.

   While any carrot can be harvested before reaching its full size as a
   more tender "baby" carrot, some fast-maturing cultivars have been bred
   to produce smaller roots. The most extreme examples produce round roots
   about 2.5 cm (1 inch) in diameter. These small cultivars are also more
   tolerant of heavy or stony soil than long-rooted cultivars such as
   'Nantes' or 'Imperator'. The "baby carrots" sold ready-to-eat in
   supermarkets, are however often not from a smaller cultivar of carrot,
   but are simply full-sized carrots that have been sliced and peeled to
   make carrot sticks of a uniform shape and size.

   Carrot flowers are pollinated primarily by bees. Seed growers use
   honeybees or mason bees for their pollination needs.

   Carrots are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera
   species including Common Swift, Garden Dart, Ghost Moth, Large Yellow
   Underwing and Setaceous Hebrew Character.

Novelty carrots

   Carrots selectively bred to produce different colors
   Enlarge
   Carrots selectively bred to produce different colors

   Food enthusiasts and researchers have obtained other varieties of
   carrots through traditional breeding methods. One particular species
   lacks the usual orange pigment from carotenes, owing its white colour
   to a recessive gene for tocopherol (Vitamin E). Derived from Daucus
   carota L. and patented (US patent #6,437,222) at the University of
   Wisconsin-Madison, the variety is intended to supplement dietary intake
   of Vitamin E.

Trivia

     * In 2005, a poll of 2,000 people revealed that the carrot was
       Britain's third favourite culinary vegetable.

     * Carrots are noted in popular culture for being the favorite food of
       rabbits, and are also associated with fictional rabbits such as
       Bugs Bunny. However, rabbits finding carrots in a garden are more
       likely to eat the exposed greens than to dig up the root.

     * For the purposes of the European Union's "Council Directive
       2001/113/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to fruit jams, jellies and
       marmalades and sweetened chestnut purée intended for human
       consumption" carrots can be defined as a fruit as well as a
       vegetable. This is because carrot jam is a Portuguese delicacy.

     * A common urban legend is that carrots aid a human being's night
       vision. It is believed that disinformation introduced in 1940 by
       John "Cat's Eyes" Cunningham during the Battle of Britain was an
       attempt to cover up the discovery and use of radar technologies .
       It reinforced existing German folklore and helped to encourage
       children to eat the vegetable. Lack of Vitamin A can, however,
       cause poor vision and can be restored by adding Vitamin A back into
       the diet.

     * The world's largest carrot was grown in Palmer, Alaska, by John
       Evans in 1998, weighing 8.614 kg (18.99 pounds).

     * The world's largest carrot statue is located in Ohakune, New
       Zealand.

     * Carrots are traditionally used as noses when building snowmen.

     * The popular entertainer " Carrot Top" is named after a carrot
       because of his bright orange hair.

     * Susan Dey, of Partridge Family fame, was said to have eaten so many
       carrots during her bout with anorexia and bulimia that her skin
       literally was tinged with orange - a condition called carotenosis.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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