why are carrots orange?

Answer 1

I might be mistaken, but I believe it's the beta carotine that makes carrots orange.

Answer 2

The first carrots were white, purple and yellow – not orange. The Dutch developed orange carrots in the 1600s. All modern day carrots are directly descended from Dutch-bred carrots.

The plant pigment that gives carrots and other vegetables their vivid orange color is beta-carotene. Fruits and Vegetables that are yellow/orange in color contain beta-carotene and carrots are one of the vegetables richest in Beta-Carotene. Our bodies convert beta-carotene into Vitamin A.

One carrot supplies enough beta-carotene to meet our daily requirement for Vitamin A. In fact, one carrot has 220% of the Vitamin A we need every day! Carrots are also a source of fiber, potassium and Vitamin C.

Did you know that?
Carrot cake gained its popularity by being served at America's county fairs in the 1960s?
In the 1960s, Viola Schlicting, from Texas, created the first carrot cake from her German carrot-nut bread recipe? The first carrot cake had an orange glaze and used Texas pecans.
In the Middle Ages, carrot juice was used to make butter a more appealing color?
The first time carrots were used as a food instead of a decoration was in 12th Century Spain when they were eaten with oil, vinegar and salt?
During some religious festivities, people eat carrots cut in rounds, like coins, to symbolize future prosperity?
The Ancient Greeks called carrots "karoton"?
The saying "dangling a carrot" as a way to get someone to do something, originates from the 1890s, when carrots were dangled in front of donkeys to get them to move?
In Germany, a hot beverage was made from carrots which had been chopped into small pieces and roasted?

5 Tips for Great Carrots
1. Always buy the carrots with the best color and amongst them the smallest ones, since these are the sweetest and most tender. The more orange they look, the more beta-carotene they contain, which is very good for the eyesight.
2. Always consume a bunch-type carrot as soon as possible, since its leaf sucks the water and sugars from the root and turns it bitter and hard.
3. You may store carrots in the refrigerator for an average of 20 days, but try not to keep them longer than a week, because with time they loose vitamins and taste.
4. When preparing a carrot salad, never slice or scrape the carrots until the last minute. Otherwise they will blacken.
5. If you have to freeze carrots, always select the youngest and most tender. Cut the bottom off, wash them and peel them. If they are rather big cut them in smaller bits. Then wash them again with cool water and let them dry. Put them in a bag, letting a bit of air in it. Close and freeze as soon as possible.

Answer 3

This info was taken from Wikipedia:

The Western carrot emerged in the Netherlands in the 15th or 16th century, its orange color making it popular in those countries as an emblem of the House of Orange and the struggle for Dutch independence. The orange color 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 Center 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.

Answer 4

A carrot (Daucus carota) is a root vegetable, usually orange or white in color 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. The orange color 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.

Answer 5

Children love brightly coloured foods and it might just help to persuade them to try different vegetables


There are even reports that as long ago as 2000 BC, temple drawings from Egypt show a plant believed to be a purple carrot.

It was not until the 17th Century that they turned orange, when patriotic Dutch growers favoured the colour - as used on the national flag.

Rainbow veg

The carrots, called Purple Haze, only have the new livery on the outside - they remain the more familiar orange on the inside.

The store is also looking at introducing "a rainbow coloured bunch", with green, yellow, red, white and even black vying for room next to the Sunday roast.

The purple carrots are being grown at a farm in Yaxley, Suffolk.

Dr Wendy Doyle, of the British Dietetic Association, said that shoppers might be persuaded to try them because of their presentation value on a dinner-plate or in a salad.

Different pigments

And she said children might like the new and unusual carrot.

"Children love brightly coloured foods and it might just help to persuade them to try different vegetables," she added.

Carrots are extremely rich in betacarotene, a powerful anti-oxidant, which is found in the orange colour.

Purple vegetables contain pigments called anthocyanins, which also act as anti-oxidants.

Dr Doyle added: "Generally speaking, the brighter it is, the more anti-oxidant nutrients you are going to find, such as in mangoes, purple sprouting broccoli and peppers."

Answer 6

Because of the beta-carotene, also know as vitamin B1. This is orange in colour, and is where the carrot gets its name. It does actually improve vision - it's not just a myth.

Answer 7

The plant pigment that gives carrots and other vegetables their vivid orange color is beta-carotene. Fruits and Vegetables that are yellow/orange in color contain beta-carotene and carrots are one of the vegetables richest in Beta-Carotene. Our bodies convert beta-carotene into Vitamin A.

Answer 8

1) The light hits the carrot.
2) Some of the atoms/pigments (whatever you want to call it) absorb some of the wavelength of light and reflect the rest.
3)You see the light that is reflected and your brain makes sense of the image on your retina.

Note:- this principle applies to all coloured things.

Answer 9

because of the beta carotene. Carrots are a rich source of beta carotene which is good to help protect against exposure to pollution and cigarette smoke.

Answer 10

because they contain carotene, an orange pigment However different coloured carrots are available and earlier varieties include purple.