Carrots that aren’t orange could be a ‘cash crop’ for North Carolina, experts say
You could soon be seeing purple carrots in North Carolina, thanks to researchers.
The North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s Crop Commercialization Program started looking into the possibility of growing the colorful crop in the state a couple years ago, according to the center.
The CCP was “created to evaluate and coordinate” introducing new “high-value” crops to the state and improving existing crops, NCBiotech’s website says.
Using a $113,523 grant from the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the CCP has been sponsoring trials this year to grow purple carrots in “geographically diverse” places: Waynesville, Belvidere and Clinton, and Kinston, the center says.
The results of the trials have been “promising,” the center said in an update on Dec. 11, and purple carrots could be the state’s “next signature cash crop.”
But the carrots wouldn’t just be for making your dinner plate more colorful.
The project is examining the possibility of growing a “high-yielding purple carrot variety” that could be used in the “natural food colorant industry,” the state department of agriculture says.
Essentially, the vegetables would be used to make natural dyes, food coloring and food products, according to the Biotechnology Center.
The project will be accomplished by “identifying top performing varieties, evaluating the best soil types and growing locations for production, determining the optimal planting and harvest periods, and evaluating colorant quality of top performing varieties,” the state department of agriculture says.
The market for natural pigments is growing, NCBiotech says, but there aren’t many suppliers of purple carrots.
“So we saw the potential to create a competitive advantage in North Carolina,” Sarah Frank, CCP project administrator said, according to NC Biotech.
But purple carrots are hardly a new thing.
They’ve actually been around longer than common orange carrots, according to the World Carrot Museum. Orange carrots were developed in the late 16th century by Dutch growers, the museum says.
Although North Carolina is looking to grow the carrots for other purposes, eating them is good for you.
They have as many nutrients as orange carrots and contain pigments that are anti-inflammatory, can improve vision, help prevent heart attacks and improve your memory, according to the Farmers’ Almanac.
They can also have a “peppery flavor,” the World Carrot Museum says.
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 4:29 PM with the headline "Carrots that aren’t orange could be a ‘cash crop’ for North Carolina, experts say."
