Carrots are high in beta carotene, which is converted into usable Vitamin A, a welltrient that helps control and minimize free radical damage. Vitamin A is derived from beta-carotene and carrots are the leading source of this substance in the American diet. Carotenoids are the group of plant pigments of which beta-carotene is a member, are named because they were first identified in carrots. A source of disease-fighting flavonoids, and carrots contain a specific type of fiber, called calcium pectate, which may lower blood cholesterol.
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With the exception of beets, carrots contain more sugar than any other vegetable, which makes them a satisfying snack eaten raw and a tasty addition to a variety of cooked dishes. Some nutrients in carrots are more easily absorbed when the vegetable has been cooked, even briefly.
Carrots/1 cup shredded raw
Calories
47
Total fat (g)
0.2
Saturated fat (g)
0
Monounsaturated fat (g)
0
Polyunsaturated fat (g)
0.1
Dietary fiber (g)
3.3
Protein (g)
1
Carbohydrate (g)
11
Cholesterol (mg)
0
Sodium (mg)
39
Beta-carotene (mg)
15
In Studies: Falcarinol protects carrots and other vegetables in the same family from fungal diseases. Author Dr Kirsten Brandt, a senior lecturer with Newcastle University's School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development said in 2/2005. The results are published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Falcarinol is also present in ginseng, a long-established medicinal plant, and initial findings showing that it could protect against cancer led a team from Newcastle University in the UK, the University of Southern Denmark and the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences to look more closely at the compound.
History: The carrot was cultivated in the Mediterranean area before the Christian Era, but it was not important as a food until later. There is a long gap of about 900 years between the writings of the Greeks and Romans of the first to third centuries and the next clear records about the carrot.
By the 13th century carrots were being grown in fields, orchards, gardens, and vineyards in Germany and France. At that time the plant was known also in China, where it was supposed to have come from Persia.
In earlier times, carrots were small red, yellow, or purple roots; the elongated orange carrot, forerunner of today's familiar vegetable, was probably developed in the seventeenth century.
By the 16th century nearly all the botanists and writers on gardening, all over Europe, were familiar with the carrot and were describing many kinds, including red and purple kinds in France, yellow and red kinds in England. About 1600, in England, carrots were common enough to be grown as a farm crop.
Technicals: The carrot belongs to the Umbelliferae family, and is recognizable by its feathery leaves as a relative of parsley, dill, fennel, celery, and the wildflower Queen Anne's Lace, from which it first may have been domesticated.
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