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John Stolarczyk and Jules Janick erratic growth. The purple/red pigment based Carrot is one of the most important root vegetable plants in the world. In its wild state it is a tiny, on anthocyanins turns brown upon cooking, bitter root with little appeal as a food, but years of human cultivation and domestication, with and stains hands and cookware. a helping hand from nature, has made it an extremely versatile vegetable, appearing in several The Western group evolved later and has un- colors, shapes, and sizes. Although cultivated for over 2000 years, and originally used only as a branched, carotenoid-pigmented roots that medicinal plant, the domestic carrot (Daucus carota var. sativus, Apiaceae or Umbelliferae) re- are yellow, orange or red, and occasionally mains an important world crop with production expanding rapidly in Asia. Current world annual white. The strongly dissected leaves are bright production is 27 million tonnes; the leading producing countries, China, Russia, and USA, pro- yellowish green and slightly hairy. Plants re- duce 45% of World output (FAO, 2008). The swollen taproots are eaten both raw and cooked, in quire extended exposure to low temperatures sweet and savoury dishes and it is known for its high beta-carotene content, which the body con- before bolting. The centre of diversity for the verts to Vitamin A. It also forms a major ingredient in the food processing industry, a signifi cant western carrot is the Anatolian region of Asia constituent of cosmetic products and its image has long been used to symbolize healthy eating. Minor (Turkey) and Iran (Vavilov, 1926, 1951). The leaves are also consumed in salads and the seeds made into a herbal tea. Orange carrots found in wild germplasm could suggest a Turkish origin (Simon, 2000). These orange types displaced the purple forms in Eu- ORIGINS have been found dating from Mesolithic times, rope and the Mediterranean by the 17th cen- approximately 10,000 years ago. Different tury through human preference and selection, The domestic carrot is a cool season biennial forms of wild carrot, usually recognized as D. and formed the basis of modern commercial plant that grows a rosette of leaves in the spring carota var. carota, have small spindle shaped, cultivars around the world, mainly because of and summer while building up the stout tap- whitish, slender roots that are aromatic, and their superior taste, versatility, and nutritional root, which stores large amounts of carbohy- acrid with a disagreeable taste. In some coun- value. Thus, the Asia Minor/Mediterranean drates for the plant to fl ower in the second year. tries it is considered a weed. Wild carrot and do- basin (Turkey) and temperate Europe regions The fl owering stem grows to about 1 m tall, mesticated carrot continue to grow side by side have been considered a secondary center of ori- with an umbel of white fl owers. The roots are in the modern world. It is a popular myth that gin for carrot and the majority of modern com- greatly enlarged and sweet with good storage domestic carrot was developed directly from mercial cultivars belong to this group. ability. Predominantly a temperate climate plant, wild carrot, probably because of its similar odor, The yellow/orange color of western carrots is the carrot is also cultivated in tropical and sub- leaf pattern and growth characteristics. Bota- caused by the plastid-bound pigment caroten- tropical regions, especially at high elevations. nists have failed to develop an edible vegetable oids, carotene, and xanthophyll. White carrots Originally wild in many parts of Europe and from the wild carrot and when the garden car- contain only traces of pigment, mainly carotene Asia it was fi rst domesticated in Afghanistan, rot reverts to an ancestral wild type it is quite and xanthophyll (Ladizinsky, 1998). The yellow considered to be the primary center of diversity, distinct from the wild form. and white types probably originated by muta- and from there spread over Europe, the Medi- tion. Purple carrots contain anthocyanins, a terranean, and Asia, with Turkey recognised as The Domesticated Carrot powerful antioxidant, whilst red contain lyco- a second center of diversity. During this spread pene, good for eye health, and also found in across the world it introgressed with local wild Almost fi ve thousand years ago, carrots were tomato (Rubatzky et al., 1999). types, some of which have existed since pre- fi rst cultivated in the Iranian Plateau (Afghani- historic times. stan, Pakistan, and Iran) and then in the Persian The modern carrot appears to derive from a Empire (Brothwell and Brothwell, 1969). Color combination of mutation and selection from a Although fossil pollen of the Apiaceae has and fl avor were the primary selection criteria complex gene pool. These involve yellow rooted been identifi ed from the Eocene period (55 to for domestication. Root color changed signifi - eastern carrots, cultivated white-rooted deriva- 34 million years ago), the wide distribution of cantly over the domestication period. Wild car- tives of wild carrot (grown as medicinal plants wild carrot, the absence of carrot root remains rots are white or pale yellow, while purple or since classical times), and wild unselected popu- in archaeological excavations, and the scarcity yellow were the fi rst colors of domesticates. The lations from Europe and the Mediterranean of documentary evidence make it diffi cult to domesticated types were divided into two sub- (Banga, 1957a, b, 1963a, b; Heywood, 1983). determine precisely where, when, and how car- groups: Eastern/Asiatic Group (var. altorubens) Orange carrots probably arrived from mutations rot domestication was initiated. Cultivation of and Western Group (var. sativus) as described by of yellow forms, and then from human selec- carrot in ancient times is still much disputed, Vavilov (1926, 1951). tion, commonly thought to be originated in the mainly because the wild carrot, also known as Netherlands. Queen Anne’s Lace, inter-crosses freely with the The Eastern/Asiatic group, the original domes- cultivated carrot. Seeds of wild and early do- ticates, have anthocyanin-pigmented roots, mesticated carrot were used medicinally in the purple, pink, or orangey-yellow, that are often HISTORY AND ICONOGRAPHY Mediterranean region before they were used as branched, with pubescent slightly dissected a root vegetable. leaves that give the plant leaves a grey green One of the problems in unravelling the ancient appearance. Plants are prone to early fl owering. history of carrot is that there is confusion be- The center of diversity was the Himalayan-Hindu tween parsnip and carrot (Hedrick, 1919). The Wild Carrot Kush region (Kashmir-Afghanistan) and around distinction between the two was fi nally clarifi ed Wild carrot is indigenous to Europe, Northern Turkestan (Mackevic, 1929; Heywood, 1983). when Linnaeus published Species Plantarum Africa, and parts of western Asia, and seeds The purple types have poor storage quality and in 1753, creating scientifi c nomenclature. He • 4 chronica 2 2011.indd 4 9/03/11 11:13 called carrots Daucus carota (combining Greek Crete [Daucus creticus or Athamanta cretensis], Figure 1. Carrot or parsnip from a wall and Latin names) and parsnips Pastinaca sativa. the next best being the produce of Achaia, and painting in a Roman tavern in Ostia of all dry localities. It resembles fennel in ap- (Caseggiato del Termopolio), early 2nd Antiquity pearance, only that its leaves are whiter, more century CE, http://www.ostia-antica.org/ regio1/2/2-5.htm. The Greeks refer to wild carrot as keras, sta- diminutive, and hairy on the surface. The stem phylinos agrios, and daukos and early forms of is upright, and a foot in length, and the root has carrot began to be cultivated in the last few cen- a remarkably pleasant taste and smell. This kind turies BCE (Dalby, 2003). Carrot (karo) was fi rst grows in stony localities with a southern aspect. mentioned in the third century BCE by Diphilus The inferior sorts are found growing every- of Siphnos. Theophrastus (371-287 BCE) in En- where, upon declivities for instance, and in the quiry into Plants IX;15 states that daukon grows hedges of fi elds, but always in a rich soil. The in Arcadia and is saffron colored (Hort, 1926). It leaves are like those of coriander, the stem be- seems clear that the Greeks were aware of car- ing a cubit in length, the heads round, often rot, wild carrot, and parsnips. three or more in number, and the root ligneous, Wild carrot was reported as a medicinal plant in and good for nothing when dry. The seed of this the gardens of ancient Rome, where it was used kind is like that of cumin, while that of the fi rst as an aphrodisiac and in some cases as part of kind bears a resemblance to millet; in all cases it is white, acrid, hot, and odoriferous. The seed of a concoction to prevent poisoning. In fact the root of the wild carrot was less fi t to be eaten the second kind has more active properties than seeds of wild carrot contain estrogen, and in than the domestic one (Grant, 2000; Dalby, that of the fi rst; for which reason it should be some cultures are used as an effective method 2003). of contraception. Archaeobotanists using DNA used more sparingly. This name for the garden carrot is found fi rst in analysis have found Roman-made pills recov- If it is considered really desirable to recognize the Roman writings of Athenaeus in 200, and ered from a 130 BCE shipwreck that appear to a third variety of the daucus, there is a plant in a book on cookery by Apicius Czclius in 230 contain carrot (Fleischer et al., 2010).

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