Name: Purple carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) — carrots with deep purple skin, and flesh that is purple, orange or yellow inside, with a sweet, slightly peppery flavour. The original carrots of Persia and Central Asia were purple and yellow, before orange became standard.
Description
Purple carrots are among the oldest types of carrot, grown in Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey for around 1,000 years, and are still used in the traditional fermented Turkish drink şalgam. They were gradually replaced in Europe by the orange carrot, bred in the Netherlands, and have become popular again for their colour.
Their purple colour comes from anthocyanins, the same pigments found in blueberries and red cabbage, which are antioxidants. When cooked, the purple colour can bleed into the water and fade, and the vegetable may turn the cooking liquid dark.
Main nutrition value
Purple carrots provide anthocyanin antioxidants in addition to the usual fibre, vitamin K, potassium and some beta-carotene (in orange-cored types), and are low in calories.
How best to be consumed
Purple carrots are used like ordinary carrots, and look striking raw.
- Eat raw, grated into salads and slaws, or as sticks with dips, for the most vivid colour.
- Roast with olive oil, salt and spices, which concentrates the sweetness.
- Steam briefly to keep the colour, or add a splash of lemon or vinegar to hold the purple.
- Add to soups and stews, though the colour may bleed.
- Store in the fridge, as with other carrots.
Overconsumption could cause…
Purple carrots are safe and healthy in food amounts.
- Staining of other foods, hands and chopping boards from the pigment.
- Choking in young children from whole raw carrots, which should be cut up or cooked.
- Allergic reactions in people with birch pollen allergy (oral allergy syndrome).
- Gas or bloating in some people from the fibre.
Wikipedia — Carrot, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot
Comments
No comments yet.
Log in to leave a comment.