Carrots
The carrot (Daucus Carota Sativus) is a root garden vegetable, a biennial plant in the umbellifer family Apiaceae, a domesticated form of the wild carrot, Daucus Carota, which originated in Persia and was originally cultivated for its leaves and seeds.
However, the most commonly eaten part of the plant now is the taproot.
The carrot's color is usually orange but there are also red, yellow or white...and even purple and black cultivars.
Carrot cultivars can be grouped into two broad classes, eastern carrots and western carrots.
Eastern carrots were domesticated in Persia during the 10th century, or earlier.
Eastern carrot cultivars that survive to the present day are commonly purple (from anthocyanin pigments) or yellow, and often have branched roots.
Western carrots emerged in the 17th century, their orange color (from the very abundant carotenes content) making them very popular in the Netherlands as an emblem of the House of Orange.
There are four main western carrot cultivars: Chantenay carrots / Danvers carrots / Imperator carrots / Nantes carrots
Carrots (usually orange and/or yellow cultivars) are used also as a natural (sometimes organic) orange vegetal food colorants.
References: Read more about Carrots on Wikipedia
