Carrots are Umbelliferae plant family which have flower heads in the form of an umbrella, hence the name. Botanically known as Daucus carota, carrots are fern leaves inimitable, like their cousins fennel, parsley and dill. The underground tuber family can reach almost a meter long and 50 mm in diameter.
The carrots taste depends on how they are cooked. Some people prefer the taste of carrots steamed instead of cooked carrots. This is a moot point, but perhaps the lowest temperature of the steam does not remove the delicate sweet flavors.
The orange color of the tuber is due to carotene carotenoids, hence the name of this vegetable. Carotene is an antioxidant.These chemicals are harmful to small ionized molecules '' the name "antioxidant" accumulate in the tissues of the body causing oxidative damage, so.
Carotene is actually two individual compounds - alpha-carotene and beta-carotene. Another carotenoid lutein is present. Alpha-carotene is the most powerful antioxidant, while beta carotene is essential for night vision. In addition, lutein helps prevent macular degeneration. For this reason, the carrots are called "good eye."
Alpha and beta carotene is only two of more than 600 carotenoids known in nature. These are the pigments that give color to foods such as egg yolks, red tomatoes, all fruits and green dark leafy vegetables such as cabbage, kale and spinach.
Other known antioxidants that are present in carrots are hydroxycinnamic caffeic, coumaric and ferulic acids. There are also a couple of compounds called anthocyanins, namely cyanidin and malvidin.
Hydroxycinnamic acids are associated with preventing the development of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Anthocyanins simply help cleaning damaging free radicals.
A Dutch study covering ten years revealed that carrots help protect against heart disease. The study found that most carrots consumed, the greater the protection.
Another study found that polyacetylenes in carrots that falcarindiol compounds Falcarinol and can help prevent colon cancer by inhibiting the cells of colon cancer. There appears to be some interaction between the carotenoids found in carrots and these polyacetylenes.
The full complement of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in carrots are: -
Vitamins A, B complex, C, E and K
dietary fiber
folate
Calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorus and potassium.