Fascinating Facts - Carrots
- The carrot, is a biennial plant which is usually grown for it's edible tap root which is eaten at the end of the first season. It is a domesticated form of the wild carrot, native to Europe and southwestern Asia, thought to originate in Afghanistan.
- Carrots are members of the parsley family. Their feathery green leaves look somewhat like parsley. Carrots can be eaten raw, cooked or made into juice. Carrots are usually orange, although are available in red, purple, yellow and white varieties. Carrots can be preserved by making into chutney, jam or marmalade.
- It is better to boil or steam carrots whole and then cut them up. If they are cut first, much of the nutrients will be leached out.
- Sweet and succulent carrot are notably rich in anti-oxidants, vitamins and dietary fiber; however, they provide only 41 calories per 100 g, negligible amount of fat and no cholesterol. Carrots have a pectin level of approximately 1.4%.
- Carrots have the highest content of beta carotene (vitamin A) of all vegetables.
- Carrots are about 87% water.
- Carrots contain more sugar than any other vegetable, except for the beet?
- The Worlds Longest Carrot recorded in 2007 was 5.839 metres.
- The Worlds Heaviest Carrot recorded in 1998 was 8.61kg (single root mass).