| A carrot is a biennial plant (seldom annual or perennial), the rosette of the leaves and root are formed in the first year of life and the seed bush and seeds in the second year.
The carrot is widely found, including in Mediterranean countries, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and America (up to 60 kinds).
The most popular carrot (cultivated, Daucus sativus, Daucus carota) is a biennial plant with a rough hard whitish or orange colored root vegetable. Cultivated carrots are divided into table and fodder. The blossom cluster - 10-15 stem complex umbrella and stems are roughly drawn down and extend during flowering. The flowers have small denticles of cups and with white, red or yellowish petals. A dark red color flower is present in the centre of umbrella. The fruits are small, elliptic diachenium with a length of 3-4 mm. They grow in the first year (June -- July).
The root crop is pulpy, conical frustum, cylindrical or spindle-shaped weighing from 30 - 300 gm or more.
Uses:
Root crops are used in food items and seeds for the preparation of tincture and extracts. The root crops contain carotenoids -- carotene, phytoene, phytofluene and lycopene; vitamins B, В2, pantothenic acid, ascorbic acid; flavonoids, anthocyanidins, sugar (3-15 %), fat and some quantity of essence, umbelliferone; in seeds - essence, flavonoid compounds and fat oil. Anthocyanidin compounds and flavonoids (quercetin, cemppherol) are found in the blossoms.
In medicine, carrots are used during hypo-and avitaminosis (vitamin deficiency). They promote epithelization, activate the intracellular oxidation-reduction processes, regulates carbohydrate exchange and is a soft laxative.
Seeds are used for obtaining medicinal products, e.g. Daucarin, possessing an antispasmodic action, which is similar to the actions of papaverine and Khellinum, expands the coronary vessels; it is used during atherosclerosis, coronary deficiency with angina pectoris phenomena. The extracts and essence for cosmetics and aromatherapy are obtained from the seeds. In traditional folk medicine, wild carrots are used as a antihelmintic and a laxative drug.
History:
Presumably, for the first time, carrots were cultivated in Afghanistan, where till now, various varieties of D. carota are cultivated. The nearest wild variety of carrot is the wild carrot: cultivars were reduced through selection. Plants with edible branchy roots, which can be differentiated by a bitter and woody taste, are obtained from the discarded seeds of garden carrots plants.
Originally, carrots were not cultivated for the sake of the root crop but for the sake of the aromatic leaves and seeds. The first reference to the use of carrot roots in food, as mentioned in classical sources, was in the 1st century C.E. Modern carrots spread to Europe. Ibn Al Awam described red and yellow carrots in Andalusia. Simeon Seth (6th century) mentions the same colors. Carrots were described in Domostroy, a monument of Russian literature of the 16th century. Orange carrots, for the first time, appeared in the Netherlands in the 17th century.
|
Shocking news this Friday. Thousands of people from an online group are on a mission to create the global shortage of carrots by massively buying all carrot supplies in one day - May 15 2008. The group has 60,000 members and is growing every day. All the members pledge to swarm local supermarkets and buy out their supply of carrots. The group is doing this to increase the world awareness of carrots as a source of valuable nutrients and vitamins.
