Why are purple carrotts purple?

[Tori]

I am going to grow some purple carrots at school (I'm a teacher). So I really need to know the answer to the most obvious question that the kids will ask.
Why are they purple?

Anyone know?

Thanks

[lynda66]

cos they aren't orange?

Orange roots, containing the pigment carotene, were not noted until the 16th century in Holland. This only came about thanks to patriotic Dutch growers who bred the vegetable to grow in the colours of the House of Orange. Experts believe Dutch breeders used a yellow mutant seed from North Africa to develop the orange variety and then stuck to it through breeding. Their colour comes from beta carotene with some alpha carotene, a pigment the body converts to Vitamin A, which is essential for healthy skin and vision in dim light. Dutch breeders recently studied the health qualities of purple carrots and believe they give us extra protection against various forms of cancer and heart disease. They contain purple pigments called anthocyanins, and act as anti-oxidants that protect the body.

anthocyanins also make grapes purple

[zazen999]

OOH - get you!!!

If it's any help - they go orange when you cook them. And they are less susceptible to carrot fly [last year's yellow and purple carrots had no carrot fly, whereas the orange ones grown within a gnats whisker had loads]. Possibly due to the lesser amounts of carotene in them as per prof upstairs!

[lynda66]

Red carrots derive their color mainly from lycopene, a type of carotene believed to guard against heart disease and some cancers. Yellow carrots accumulate xanthophylls, pigments similar to beta-carotene that support good eye health. Purple carrots possess an entirely different class of pigments—anthocyanins—which act as powerful antioxidants.

While colored carrots are unusual, they're not exactly new. "Purple and yellow carrots were eaten more than 1,000 years ago in Afghanistan and 700 years ago in western Europe,"

[lynda66]

OOH - get you!!!

If it's any help - they go orange when you cook them. And they are less susceptible to carrot fly [last year's yellow and purple carrots had no carrot fly, whereas the orange ones grown within a gnats whisker had loads]. Possibly due to the lesser amounts of carotene in them as per prof upstairs!

you're impressed aren't you lol

actually my only input to that was the grape bit ..... but at least it made me sound intelligent lol

[Demeter]

I've been doing a short'n'simple gardening course with the local children's centre (my girl's nursery) and we are growing "multicoloured carrots" (red, green, white, orange, yellow, purple) which we think will amuse the kids. I don't think 3 and 4 year olds will understand the science bit though...

Dr Thing who is teaching the course told us that purple used to be the standard colour for carrots. Orange carrots became all the rage after William of Orange came over here to be king (the dutch connection as per Lynda's post). Obviously that was about 300 years ago, and the fashion has never died out - unlike shell suits or pokemon...

[Demeter]

..... but at least it made me sound intelligent lol

Or like you found summat via google...

[lynda66]

i'm not sure i could eat purple carrots, they just aren't right ..... its like black sweetcorn ..... how do you tell when it's off lol

sorry about being technical, i never thought about them being very young lol ....... so i googled explaining purple carrots to children and i couldn't find anything

[lynda66]

Or like you found summat via google...

see above lol google is your friend

[zazen999]

I use purple carrots in my blood red soup - which is blood red because it has beetroot in it but i like to think the purple carrots help.

[Demeter]

Good point, L
Tori - how old are the children you are doing it with and what sort of thing will they be interested in??
Looks like you could go the science angle or the history angle!!

[realfood]

I find that purple carrots taste and smell more "carroty". In the Autumn, mice will go for the purple carrots before they touch the red ones. They have got good taste!

[Tori]

Wow thanks everyone! The children are 4 and 5 so I will go for the history angle, without too much detail!

[joey]

Im growing yellow carrots

[Wren]

I am growing purple carrots and according to the seed company they do 'NOT' lose their colour on cooking.
I am not sure of the exact science behind the reason they are purple but all varietals have their own characteristics an colour is one of them. I believe orange carrots are infact quite a modern thing and purple carrots were the normal grown type of the medieval folk along with yellow,

Here is a link for you to look at that might explain more.

Carrots History - From Medicine to Food - ad 200 to 1800

Wren