The orange carrot is a human invention
The familiar orange carrot is a product of 16th-century Dutch selective breeding, transforming wild, fibrous roots into the sweet, nutritious vegetable we enjoy today.
Did you know the vibrant orange carrot we love today didn't always exist? Wild carrots, originally purple, white, or yellow, were tough and fibrous. Around the 16th century in the Netherlands, farmers began selectively breeding these wild varieties with sweeter yellow carrots from the Middle East. Their goal was to create more palatable and nutritious roots.
There's more to this story — open the app to keep reading.
Continue Reading in App
1 more paragraphs · plus a 4-question quiz