apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Ikea often uses baby yellow carrots in their mixed vegetables in the cafeteria.

I had these a few weeks ago. They seem a bit sweeter than orange baby carrots, but otherwise, the difference is pretty small. The color *is* really pretty, however.

Wow I've never seen yellow "baby" carrots before. They're really pretty.

In orange carrots, alpha- and beta-carotene are the primary pigments that give them their orange color. According to this article from the USDA Agriculture Research, xanthophylls (which include lutein/zeaxanthin) are the primary pigments in yellow carrots (yellow carrots would be lacking the alpha/beta-carotenes). Beta carotene converts to vitamin A and is important for vision to function, while lutein/zeaxanthin accumulate in the back of the retina protecting from sun damage. Plant pigments are so cool!

Never seen yellow baby carrots. I've only seen yellow ones in Trader Joe's Rainbow Carrots - they're all regular size, and come red, white, yellow and orange. The yellows are my favorite! Sliced thin and lightly steamed, they're so sweet, they're like candy!

i use them... to pretty up salads! they taste the same as orange ones to me.

Never knew there were yellow carrots. Yet, I knew that purple carrot were the original and true color of carrots and their small journey to the more pleasing color of orange.

I never knew there were yellow carrots. They look anemic to me so I don't think I would buy them.

Funny how things come around: our current-day carrots actually stem from a white/pale yellow wild variety and over the years have been culitivated to today's orange colour.

I assume it has to do with the fact that the stronger coloured varieties were hardier, more uniform in size, stored better and looked more appetizing. And now we've culitvated them so far that new yellow varieties are coming back!

PS: the reason - by the looks of the picture and my limited knowledge of carrot packaging - why they look so uniform in size, is that many odd shaped carrots (bought at lower prices) are actually weedled down to a uniform shape. Thereby loosing many of the vitamins contained in the skin. This is why I always buy carrots I need to peel myself (unless I'm having a really lazy day :)).

EvaInNL

I think you are right EvaInNL, those are whittled away deformed carrots, not perfect little carrots. I find pre-peeled carrots not as fresh as when you peel them yourself so I never buy them peeled. They're quite expensive pre-peeled here too. About $10 for a kg of peeled baby carrots and around $1-2 for a kg of robust skin on adult sized carrots. I know which I prefer!