Orange is way cool but…
purple is da bomb. Orange vegetables contain beta carotene, but purple veggies are filled with cancer-fighting anthocyanin compounds.
It turns out that orange carrots, the rage today, were rare several hundred years ago. Of course, who can remember, that is a little far back in our short lifetimes. However, the color of carrots over a few hundred years ago was purple. Eek!!! Did that mean that the people were healthier? Who knows.
Now, wild carrots, which are naturally purple, are being bred with domesticated orange carrots. This is a process because the first set of hybrids will have too much wild carrot DNA resulting in too bitter or too small carrots. To get to the sweet purple carrot the researcher has to cross and cross again.
How does the breeder basically cross pollinate the wild and domesticated carrot plants? Here’s the secret: they transfer the pollen via a small paintbrush starting from the blossom of the wild carrot.
When the carrot scientist comes up with the perfect purple carrot, the cross pollinating ends and the self pollinating begins. No more mixing the DNA, but the propagation of a desirable plant.
Cosmic purple carrot can be found at http://www.amishlandseeds.com. This is a quite unusual carrot in that the skin is purple, but the flesh
radiates a bright orange. Notify us here of hybrids that actually produce a sweet purple flesh.
Does anyone have a pic of purple carrots? Leave a comment and we will credit you when we use your photo.
As a side note: remember elderberries? They are purple and contain good stuff to fight against colds, flus, and more.
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