The Hindu Business Line : Eat carrot of your favourite colour

Scientss with the Agricultural Research Service, an arm of the US Department of Agriculture, are breeding carrots that come in a palette of colours including yellow, dark orange, bright red and, even, purple.

With their flashy colours, these conventionally-bred carrots could dress up any dull meal, the scientists say. These carrots have health-promoting properties. Yellow carrots derive their golden hues from xanthophylls that are linked with good eye health. Red carrots contain lycopene, a type of carotene also found in tomatoes and it is believed to guard against heart disease and some cancers. Anthocyanins give purple carrots their colour. In a class all by themselves, these pigments are considered to be powerful antioxidants that can guard the body's fragile cells from the destructive .

At first, Dr Philipp Simon, the carrots' breeder who works at the ARS Vegetable Crops Research Unit in Madison, Wisconsin, was unsure if these complex vegetables could provide nutrients in a form that the human body can use. But in studies with nutritionist Ms Sherry Tanumihardjo from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Dr Simon found that yellow carrots' lutein was 65 per cent as it is from a lutein supplement. The two also discovered that lycopene from red-pigmented carrots is 40 per cent as available from tomato paste.

More Stories on : Horticulture/Fruits & Vegetables

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Nabard sees 31% rise in priority sector lending in Gujarat

Thrissur receives excess rainfall

Coverage of most rabi crops still down

Inflation declines on cheaper food items, fuel

Eat carrot of your favourite colour

Spot rubber prices static

Coconut palm's untapped wealth in Kerala

Steps to streamline pepper procurement in Kerala

Kerala may begin pepper procurement from mid-Jan