Orange carrots get their bright orange color from beta-carotene. Beta-carotene metabolizes in the human gut from bile salts into Vitamin A. The origins of the cultivated carrot is rooted in the purple carrot in the region around modern day Afghanistan.

Did carrots used to be white?

CARROTS used to be white. They were grown for their leaves and seeds, much as their distant relatives, parsley and coriander, still are. The chemical compounds that give carrots their vivid colour, carotenoids, are usually used by plants that grow above ground to assist in the process of photosynthesis.

Did carrots used to be purple?

Turns out most carrots were purple before the 17th century.

Turns out most carrots were violet hued before the 17th century.