Carrots used to be purple or yellow until Dutch farmers turned them orange in the 1600s.

The original wild carrots came from Persia, which is now Iran, over 1,000 years ago. These early roots were mostly purple because they were full of anthocyanins, the same stuff that makes blueberries blue. In the 10th century, nobody had ever seen an orange carrot.Everything changed in the 1600s when farmers in the Netherlands found rare orange carrots that grew by mistake. These orange versions were special because they were packed with beta-carotene. This is a natural pigment that our bodies turn into Vitamin A, which helps us see in the dark.Scientists studying carrot DNA found a specific gene called DCAR_032551 that makes carrots store these orange pigments. While people liked the color because it matched the Dutch Royal Family's colors, they kept growing them because they simply tasted better. The old purple carrots were often bitter and woody, while the new orange ones were juicy and sweet.Today, groups like the World Vegetable Center keep seeds for thousands of different carrot types. This includes the original white, yellow, and purple ancestors to make sure we never lose that history. Even though they come in many colors now, most modern carrots are still about 88% water and 9% sugar.