What do you think of this fact?
Orange is so tied to carrots that it’s hard to picture them any other way. But rewind a few centuries and the picture flips. The first carrots people deliberately grew were purple and yellow.
Purple first, orange later
Wild carrots have a pale, whitish root. According to a genome study from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the first cultivated carrots showed up about 1,100 years ago in Central Asia, in purple and yellow. A purple variety from the region of today’s Afghanistan became dominant and gradually spread across Europe and Asia.
The classic orange carrot came later. According to the study, it appeared in 16th-century Europe. It most likely came from a yellow variety that farmers selected until the roots turned orange. Dutch growers in particular made it big: the Netherlands was an agricultural powerhouse back then and spread the new color across Europe.
The prince myth
Here comes the story you might have heard: the Dutch supposedly bred orange carrots to honor William of Orange, the leader of their revolt against Spain. Sounds perfect, but there’s nothing to back it up. According to Live Science, there is no documentary evidence that the color was meant as a tribute to the royal family. Orange carrots probably existed before William was politically active.
Orange carrots won out for practical reasons. They were considered sweeter and more reliable to grow, and genetically the color has nothing to do with taste. According to the study, the genes for color and for flavor are unrelated.
According to the Wisconsin study, modern carrots contain about 50 percent more carotene than carrots from 1970.
Colorful is the new old
When you spot purple or yellow carrots at a farmers market today, they look like a hip trend. In reality, they’re the originals, and the orange carrot is the newcomer that took over the business.
The carrot in your supermarket isn’t a law of nature. It’s a breeding success with a marketing legend attached.