Moitry Susan Roy
Professor Jenny Nate
Culinary Arts
2 November 2014 Carrots Carrot is a root vegetable. They are usually orange in color. Other colors such as purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist too. They have a crisp texture when fresh. The cultivated featheryleaved plant of the parsley family yields this vegetable. The domesticated carrot that we know today originated from the wild carrot called Daucus carota which was native to Europe and south western Asia. The orange colour results from abundant carotenes in these cultivars, mainly the betacarotene which is a strongly colored redorange pigment found in some plants and fruits.They’re considered as the healthiest food on earth. Carrots are grown all over the world. China took the place of the greatest producer though. The actual plant of a carrot (greens above ground) can grow up to 1 m (3.2 ft) tall and flowers around June to August (northern hemisphere summer) with a bright white flower.
Cultivated carrots are usually made up of about 88% water, 7% sugar, 1% protein, 1% fibre, 1% ash, and 0.2% fat.
Proper soil preparation is very important in achieving success with the root crops. They grow best in a deep, loose soil that retains moisture yet is welldrained. Root crops do not grow well in very acid soils. Nitrogen recommendations for carrots are about ¾ to 1 cup of urea/100 sq. ft. Carrots are usually harvested when the roots are ¾ inches in diameter at the upper end, but you can harvest them any time they reach a usable size. Potential problems most
Roy 2
encountered while producing carrots are carrot root flies, maggots that feed on and destroy the roots of many root crops.
As the healthiest food on earth they have many benefits. All the minerals and vitamins in the carrots make them more useful than we think they