Carrots

 

  • Carrots are also known as Daucus carota subsp. sativus (Hoffm.) Schübl. & Mart.
  • Carrots are one of the most prevalent vegetables in the world. Carrots are cultivated and eaten globally.
  • Carrots can come in a variety of colour from the standard orange to white and even purple.
  •  Carrots are commonly found in the wild in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia, though once cultivated it spread West.
  • Carrot domestication is believed to be around the 10th Century in Persia and modern-day Turkey.
  • There are two types of domesticated Carrot the Eastern and the Western carrot.
  • China is the current largest producer of carrots.

Significance

  • Wild carrots are very important for bees and the pollination process.
  • Carrots are important for the diet of infants because they are rich in vitamin A.

Mansfeld’s World Database of Agriculture and Horticultural Crops; http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/apex/f?p=185:46:11221720673693::NO::module,source,taxid,akzname:mf,volksnam,1104,Daucuscarotasubsp.sativus (accessed 27,01,2020) Carrot, New World Encyclopedia; https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Carrot (accessed 27.01.2020) History of Carrots; http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/history.html (accessed 27.01.2020)