Game Carrot

[Fairy Dawdy]

Thecarrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though heirloom variants including purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist,[2][3][4] all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, Daucus carota, native to Europe and Southwestern Asia. The plant probably originated in Iran and was originally cultivated for its leaves and seeds. The most commonly eaten part of the plant is the taproot, although the stems and leaves are also eaten. The domestic carrot has been selectively bred for its enlarged, more palatable, less woody-textured taproot. Carrots are commonly consumed raw or cooked in various cuisines.

The carrot is a biennial plant in the umbellifer family, Apiaceae. Young plants have a rosette of leaves while building up the enlarged taproot. Fast-growing cultivars mature within about three months (90 days) of sowing the seed, while slower-maturing cultivars need a month longer (120 days).

Daucus carota is a biennial plant. In the first year, its rosette of leaves produces large amounts of sugars, which are stored in the taproot to provide energy for the plant to flower in the second year.[citation needed]

Flower development begins when the flat meristem changes from producing leaves to an uplifted, conical meristem capable of producing stem elongation and a cluster of flowers. The cluster is a compound umbel, and each umbel contains several smaller umbels (umbellets). The first (primary) umbel occurs at the end of the main floral stem; smaller secondary umbels grow from the main branch, and these further branch into third, fourth, and even later-flowering umbels.[8]

A large, primary umbel can contain up to 50 umbellets, each of which may have as many as 50 flowers; subsequent umbels have fewer flowers. Individual flowers are small and white, sometimes with a light green or yellow tint. They consist of five petals, five stamens, and an entire calyx. The stamens usually split and fall off before the stigma becomes receptive to receive pollen. The stamens of the brown, male, sterile flowers degenerate and shrivel before the flower fully opens. In the other type of male sterile flower, the stamens are replaced by petals, and these petals do not fall off. A nectar-containing disc is present on the upper surface of the carpels.[8]

Flowers change sex in their development, so the stamens release their pollen before the stigma of the same flower is receptive. The arrangement is centripetal, meaning the oldest flowers are near the edge and the youngest flowers are in the center. Flowers usually first open at the outer edge of the primary umbel, followed about a week later on the secondary umbels, and then in subsequent weeks in higher-order umbels.[8]

The fruit that develops is a schizocarp consisting of two mericarps; each mericarp is a true seed. The paired mericarps are easily separated when they are dry. Premature separation (shattering) before harvest is undesirable because it can result in seed loss. Mature seeds are flattened on the commissural side that faced the septum of the ovary. The flattened side has five longitudinal ribs. The bristly hairs that protrude from some ribs are usually removed by abrasion during milling and cleaning. Seeds also contain oil ducts and canals. Seeds vary somewhat in size, ranging from less than 500 to more than 1000 seeds per gram.[8]

The carrot is a diploid species, and has nine relatively short, uniform-length chromosomes (2n=18).[2][3] The genome size is estimated to be 473 mega base pairs, which is four times larger than Arabidopsis thaliana, one-fifth the size of the maize genome, and about the same size as the rice genome.[9]

Polyacetylenes can be found in Apiaceae vegetables like carrots where they show cytotoxic activities.[10][11] Falcarinol and falcarindiol (cis-heptadeca-1,9-diene-4,6-diyne-3,8-diol)[12] are such compounds. This latter compound shows antifungal activity towards Mycocentrospora acerina and Cladosporium cladosporioides.[12] Falcarindiol is the main compound responsible for bitterness in carrots.[13]

Both written history and molecular genetic studies indicate that the domestic carrot has a single origin in Central Asia.[2][3] Its wild ancestors probably originated in Greater Iran (regions of which are now Iran and Afghanistan), which remains the centre of diversity for the wild carrot Daucus carota. A naturally occurring subspecies of the wild carrot was presumably bred selectively over the centuries to reduce bitterness, increase sweetness and minimise the woody core; this process produced the familiar garden vegetable.[16][17]

The plant is depicted and described in the Eastern Roman Juliana Anicia Codex, a 6th-century AD Constantinopolitan copy of the Greek physician Dioscorides' 1st-century pharmacopoeia of herbs and medicines, De Materia Medica. Three different types[clarification needed] of carrots are depicted, and the text states that "the root can be cooked and eaten".[23] Another copy of this work, Codex Neapolitanes from late 6th or early 7th century, has basically the same illustrations but with roots in purple.[24]

The plant was introduced into Spain by the Moors in the 8th century.[25] In the 10th century, roots from West Asia, India and Europe were purple.[26] The modern carrot originated in Afghanistan at about this time.[19] The 11th-century Jewish scholar Simeon Seth describes both red and yellow carrots,[27] as does the 12th-century Arab-Andalusian agriculturist, Ibn al-'Awwam.[28] Cultivated carrots appeared in China in the 12th century,[29] and in Japan in the 16th or 17th century.[30]

The orange carrot was created by the Dutch growers. There is pictorial evidence that the orange carrot existed at least in 512, but it is probable that it was not a stable variety until the Dutch bred the cultivar termed the "Long Orange" at the turn of the 18th century.[31] Some claim that the Dutch created the orange carrots to honor the Dutch flag at the time and William of Orange,[26][32] but other authorities argue these claims lack convincing evidence and it is possible that the orange carrot was favored by the Europeans because it does not brown the soups and stews as the purple carrot does and, as such, was more visually attractive.[31]

Carrots are grown from seed and can take up to four months (120 days) to mature, but most cultivars mature within 70 to 80 days under the right conditions.[35] They grow best in full sun but tolerate some shade.[36] The optimum temperature is 16 to 21 C (61 to 70 F).[37] The ideal soil is deep, loose and well-drained, sandy or loamy, with a pH of 6.3 to 6.8.[38]

Fertilizer should be applied according to soil type because the crop requires low levels of nitrogen, moderate phosphate and high potash. Rich or rocky soils should be avoided, as these will cause the roots to become hairy and/or misshapen.[39] Irrigation is applied when needed to keep the soil moist. After sprouting, the crop is eventually thinned to a spacing of 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) and weeded to prevent competition beneath the soil.[35][40]

There are several diseases that can reduce the yield and market value of carrots. The most devastating carrot disease is Alternaria leaf blight, which has been known to eradicate entire crops. A bacterial leaf blight caused by Xanthomonas campestris can also be destructive in warm, humid areas. Root knot nematodes (Meloidogyne species) can cause stubby or forked roots, or galls.[41] Cavity spot, caused by the oomycetes Pythium violae and Pythium sulcatum, results in irregularly shaped, depressed lesions on the taproots.[42]

Physical damage can also reduce the value of carrot crops. The two main forms of damage are splitting, whereby a longitudinal crack develops during growth that can be a few centimetres to the entire length of the root, and breaking, which occurs postharvest. These disorders can affect over 30% of commercial crops. Factors associated with high levels of splitting include wide plant spacing, early sowing, lengthy growth durations, and genotype.[43]

"Eastern" (a European and American continent reference) carrots were domesticated in Persia (probably in the lands of modern-day Iran and Afghanistan within West Asia) during the 10th century, or possibly earlier. Specimens of the Eastern carrot that survive to the present day are commonly purple or yellow, and often have branched roots. The purple colour common in these carrots comes from anthocyanin pigments.[46]

The "Western" carrot emerged in the Netherlands in the 16th or 17th century.[47] There is a popular belief that its orange colour made it popular in those countries as an emblem of the House of Orange and the struggle for Dutch independence, although there is little evidence for this beyond oral tradition and the timing.[31][32] The orange colour results from abundant carotenes in these cultivars.

Carrot breeding programs have developed new cultivars to have dense amounts of chemically-stable acylated pigments, such as anthocyanins, which enrich carrot color based on the density and types of anthocyanin to produce different carrot colors.[2][3] One particular cultivar lacks the usual orange pigment due to carotene, owing its white colour to a recessive gene for tocopherol (vitamin E), but this cultivar and wild carrots do not provide nutritionally significant amounts of vitamin E.[49]

Carrots can be eaten in a variety of ways. Only 3 percent of the β-carotene in raw carrots is released during digestion: this can be improved to 39% by pulping, cooking and adding cooking oil.[56] Alternatively they may be chopped and boiled, fried or steamed, and cooked in soups and stews, as well as baby and pet foods. A well-known dish is carrots julienne.[57] Together with onion and celery, carrots are one of the primary vegetables used in a mirepoix to make various broths.[58]

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