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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the cultivated vegetable. For other uses, see Carrot
(disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Karat.

Carrot

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Tracheophytes

Clade: Angiosperms

Clade: Eudicots
 Clade: Asterids

Order: Apiales

Family: Apiaceae

Genus: Daucus

Species: D.  carota

Subspecies: D. c. subsp. sativus

Trinomial name

Daucus carota subsp. sativus

(Hoffm.) Schübl. & G. Martens

Synonyms[1]

 Carota
sativa (Hoffm.) Rupr.
 Daucus
sativus (Hoffm.)

The carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) is a root vegetable, typically orange in color,

though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist,[2][3][4] all of which are
domesticated forms 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 also eaten. The domestic carrot has
been selectively bred for its 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 need
a month longer (120 days). The roots contain high quantities of alpha- and beta-
carotene, and are a good source of vitamin A, vitamin K, and vitamin B6.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that world
production of carrots and turnips (these plants are combined by the FAO) for 2020 was
41 million tonnes, with over 44% of the world total grown in China. Carrots are
commonly consumed raw or cooked in various cuisines.

Etymology

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."[5]

The word is first recorded in English circa 1530 and was borrowed from the Middle
French carotte,[6] itself from the Late Latin carōta, from the ancient
Greek καρωτόν (karōtón), originally from the Proto-Indo-European root *ker- ('horn'),
due to its horn-like shape. In Old English, carrots (typically white at the time) were not
clearly distinguished from parsnips: the two were collectively called moru or more (from
Proto-Indo-European *mork- 'edible
root', cf. German Möhre or Russian морковь (morkov)).[citation needed]
Various languages still use the same word for carrot as they do for root; e.g.
the Dutch wortel.[7]

History
Both written history and molecular genetic studies indicate that the domestic carrot has
a single origin in Central Asia.[2][3] Its wild ancestors probably originated in Persia (regions
of which are now Iran and Afghanistan), 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. [8][9]
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.[10] Some close relatives of the carrot are still
grown for their leaves and seeds, such as parsley, coriander (cilantro), fennel,
anise, dill and cumin. The first mention of the root in classical sources is from the 1st
century AD;[11] the Romans ate a root vegetable called pastinaca,[12] which may have
been either the carrot or the closely related parsnip.[13][14]
The plant is depicted and described in the Eastern Roman Juliana Anicia Codex, a 6th-
century AD Constantinopolitan copy of the Greek physician Dioscorides' 1st-century
pharmacopoeia of herbs and medicines, De Materia Medica. Three different types[clarification
needed]
 of carrots are depicted, and the text states that "the root can be cooked and eaten".
[15]
 Another copy of this work, Codex Neapolitanes from late 6th or early 7th century, has
basically the same illustrations but with roots in purple. [16]
The plant was introduced into Spain by the Moors in the 8th century.[17] In the 10th
century, roots from West Asia, India and Europe were purple. [18] The modern carrot
originated in Afghanistan at about this time.[11] The 11th-century Jewish scholar Simeon
Seth describes both red and yellow carrots,[19] as does the 12th-century Arab-
Andalusian agriculturist, Ibn al-'Awwam.[20] Cultivated carrots appeared in China in the
12th century,[21] and in Japan in the 16th or 17th century. [22]
The orange carrot was created by the Dutch growers. There is pictorial evidence that
the orange carrot existed at least in 512, but it is probable that it was not a stable variety
until the Dutch bred the cultivar termed the "Long Orange" at the end of 17th century -
beginning of the 18th century.[23] Some claim that the Dutch created the orange carrots to
honor the Dutch flag at the time and William of Orange,[18][24] but other authorities argue
these claims lack convincing evidence and it is possible that the orange carrot was
favored by the Europeans because it does not brown the soups and stews as the purple
carrot does and, as such, was more visually attractive. [23]
Modern carrots were described at about this time by the English antiquary John
Aubrey (1626–1697): "Carrots were first sown at Beckington in Somersetshire. Some
very old Man there [in 1668] did remember their first bringing hither." [25] European
settlers introduced the carrot to colonial America in the 17th century.[26]
Outwardly purple carrots, still orange on the inside, were sold in British stores beginning
in 2002.[18]

Description

Seedlings shortly after germination

Daucus carota is a biennial plant. In the first year, its rosette of leaves produces large
amounts of sugars, which are stored in the taproot to provide energy for the plant to
flower in the second year.[citation needed]
Soon after germination, carrot seedlings show a distinct demarcation between taproot
and stem: the stem is thicker and lacks lateral roots. At the upper end of the stem is
the seed leaf. The first true leaf appears about 10–15 days after germination.
Subsequent leaves are alternate (with a single leaf attached to a node), spirally
arranged, and pinnately compound, with leaf bases sheathing the stem. As the plant
grows, the bases of the seed leaves, near the taproot, are pushed apart. The stem,
located just above the ground, is compressed and the internodes are not distinct. When
the seed stalk elongates for flowering, the tip of the stem narrows and becomes pointed,
and the stem extends upward to become a highly branched inflorescence up to 60–
200 cm (20–80 in) tall.[27]
Most of the taproot consists of a pulpy outer cortex (phloem) and an inner core (xylem).
High-quality carrots have a large proportion of cortex compared to core. Although a
completely xylem-free carrot is not possible, some cultivars have small and deeply
pigmented cores; the taproot can appear to lack a core when the colour of the cortex
and core are similar in intensity. Taproots are typically long and conical, although
cylindrical and nearly-spherical cultivars are available. The root diameter can range
from 1 cm (3⁄8 in) to as much as 10 cm (4 in) at the widest part. The root length ranges
from 5 to 50 cm (2 to 20 in), although most are between 10 and 25 cm (4 and 10 in).[27]

Daucus carota umbel (inflorescence). Individual flowers are borne on undivided pedicels originating from a
common node.

Top view of Daucus carota inflorescence, showing umbellets; the central flower is dark red.

Flower development begins when the flat meristem changes from producing leaves to

an uplifted, conical meristem capable of producing stem elongation and a cluster of
flowers. The cluster is a compound umbel, and each umbel contains several smaller
umbels (umbellets). The first (primary) umbel occurs at the end of the main floral stem;
smaller secondary umbels grow from the main branch, and these further branch into
third, fourth, and even later-flowering umbels. [27]
A large, primary umbel can contain up to 50 umbellets, each of which may