Where did the purple carrot come from, its calorie content and chemical composition. Useful properties and features of use. Cooking uses and interesting facts about the purple root vegetable. Also, purple carrots are high in potassium and calcium. Potassium is responsible for the work of the cardiovascular system, tones up the walls of blood vessels, and normalizes the rhythm of the pulse. Calcium stimulates muscle contraction, increases the strength of the bone structure. With a lack of calcium, teeth deteriorate and crumble, osteoporosis and arthrosis develop. Anthocyanins help the body to fully absorb these substances.
Useful properties of purple carrots
The pronounced benefits of purple carrots appear when fresh vegetables are eaten raw. During storage, the beneficial effect is reduced by half.
Useful properties when acting on the body are manifested as follows:
- Prevents malignancy. The anti-cancer effect is provided by the carotenoid lutein, it reduces the rate of degeneration of already changed cells and stops the transformation of healthy ones.
- Has anti-inflammatory effect. When eliminating the symptoms of rheumatism and arthritis - pain and aches in the joints - the use of a root vegetable relieves pain faster than taking Aspirin.
- It helps to strengthen the immune system, stimulates the production of interferons and increases the protective properties of the body.
- Has a pronounced preventive effect, prevents the development of pathologies of the cardiovascular system. It inhibits the deposition of cholesterol, prevents the appearance of symptoms of varicose veins, normalizes blood clotting and stops thrombus formation.
- Has a beneficial effect on the urinary system. Strengthens the kidney, helps the body overcome sexual dysfunctions. Thanks to the complex of nutrients, the work of the male reproductive system improves.
- Normalizes diastolic and reduces systolic pressure.
- Improves vision, stabilizes the function of the optic nerve, prevents the development of retinopathy in patients with a history of diabetes mellitus.
- Improves the condition of skin, teeth and hair.
Purple carrot tops can also be eaten as an ingredient in salad. Its chemical composition is no less rich than that of the root crop itself. It contains vitamin C, vitamin A, folic acid, potassium, calcium. Its use is good for vision, improves the condition of blood vessels, reduces pain in the lower extremities with varicose veins, increases immunity and relieves pain in hemorrhoids. The taste of the tops, albeit unusual, may well replace parsley in salads.
Interestingly, the beneficial effects of purple carrots on the body change after heat treatment. The action of the complex of nutrients decreases 3-4 times, but the antioxidant effect increases. In addition, boiled carrots stimulate peristalsis, have a cleansing effect, remove toxins and toxins from the body, and stop the vital activity of pathogenic bacteria in the intestinal lumen.
Harm and contraindications to eating purple carrots
There are some contraindications to healing with purple carrots.
You can not eat the root vegetable raw:
- With pancreatitis, the chemical load on the digestive gland increases, the withdrawal of pancreatic enzymes is stimulated.
- With gastritis with high acidity, with stomach and duodenal ulcers, the acidity increases even more, the mechanical load on the mucous membrane increases.
- With colitis and enterocolitis - stimulation of peristalsis contributes to the development of diarrhea, painful colic and spasm.
Individual intolerance may become a contraindication to purple carrots. If there is an allergic reaction to an ordinary carrot, then you should not try purple either, because its pulp has the same color as that of an ordinary carrot, that is, the chemical composition is the same.
In case of impaired liver function, the amount of food in the diet should be limited - no more than an average carrot per day. With a healthy liver, you can eat up to 4 purple root vegetables.
Abuse can cause nausea, vomiting, severe weakness and yellowing of the skin, even in completely healthy people.
Purple Carrot Recipes
Purple carrots are juicier than regular carrots and taste sweeter. It is advisable to use it as an ingredient in salads, to introduce it into a fruit cocktail - more juice is obtained from a purple root crop than from the same amount of raw materials of a traditional color. You can add it to all dishes that use regular carrots, boil them, marinate, stew and bake them on the grill. It is more convenient for making dessert because of its rich taste. Additionally, for decorative purposes, slicing purple root vegetables can provide an alternative to artful flowers cut from regular carrots.
Purple Carrot Recipes:
- Rainbow salad … All vegetables are washed and peeled: daikon - 400 g, purple carrots - 1 piece, yellow and orange bell peppers - 1 piece, parsley - half a bunch, half a red and onion onion, garlic. All vegetables are cut into long strips, onions are cut into half rings, garlic is chopped. Lemon juice (3 tablespoons) is mixed with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil - better than olive oil, salt to taste and pepper. All the ingredients are mixed, trying to arrange the vegetables in such a way as to favorably shade the colors, season with the prepared sauce. There is another way to present this type of salad - all vegetables on a common dish are laid out with flower petals: red onions are laid out in the shape of the center of the flower, the rest of the vegetables around. Mix in their own plates. The sauce is served separately in a saucepan.
- Hearty salad … Ingredients: a glass of white beans, carrots - 1 purple and 2 regular, celery stalk, lettuce - 200 g. Seasonings: 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, to taste sea salt, sugar, mustard and lemon juice. The beans must be prepared in advance. It is poured with cold water - it is better in the evening, boiled until tender, only with salt, allowed to cool. Red carrots are boiled and then cut into cubes. The purple carrots are cut raw into strips. The celery root is also cut into strips. Lettuce leaves are dried, torn by hand. The sauce is mixed separately. The salad is laid out in a slide, decorated with stripes of purple carrots and lettuce on top.
- Carrot cocktail for obesity … For 2 servings of the drink, you need to take so many purple carrots to make 200 ml of juice. They also squeeze juice from celery and spinach - 130 ml each, these products are used together with the pulp. Mix everything, add fresh parsley, a little. Drink after meals.
- Cocktail for beauty and vigor … Ingredients: 4 purple carrots, 1 beetroot, 3 parsnip roots. After preparing the juice, the pulp is discarded. They drink in the morning.
- Bone Strengthening Cocktail … You need to calculate the amount of vegetables in such a way to get 250 ml of carrot juice, 110 ml of juice from lettuce and 50 ml of dandelion juice.
- Nutritious cocktail … 300 g of purple carrots, 250 g of a mixture of apple and peach pulp, 50 g of sugar or honey, 300 ml of cream 20%. All vegetables are chopped in a blender - purple carrots are so juicy that it turns out not fruit puree, but juice with pulp. Add cream, mix again with a blender. If the cocktail is made for adults, refrigerate before use.
- Confiture … 300 g of purple carrots, 1 lemon - juice and zest are used, sugar - 150-200 g. Purple carrots are very sweet, and if you neglect the zest, the dessert will turn out to be too sugary. The root crop is cut into slices, approximately 0.5 mm thick, covered with sugar and the lemon cut into slices is added, along with the peel. Everything is poured into a basin and put on the fire. The purple carrots are so juicy that no water is added. Cook for 15-20 minutes, then lay out on sterilized jars and roll up the lids. The jars should be cooled under the blanket - at this time the confiture reaches. Storage, like ordinary jam, at room temperature.
- Colored roast … Purple carrots are grated and lightly fried, mixed with finely chopped fried onions, and salted. Frying turns out to be multi-colored, in two colors - orange and purple. It can be added to boiled rice, pasta, barley porridge.
You can cook purple carrots in the same way as regular carrots, but it is advisable to use them more efficiently. Boil soup or stew ordinary root vegetables, and use purple in your presentation to add color to the dish. The child will be happy to eat a colorful soup or side dish.
Interesting facts about purple carrots
A man got acquainted with carrots thanks to farm animals. Noticing that they happily chew on the dark purple roots, people began to dig them up themselves. The first carrot roots to grow in cool areas were small, branched and dark purple in color.
Carrots from tropical and subtropical zones were bright orange, more fleshy, but they only spread throughout the world in the 17th century. They began to forget about purple varieties, they were grown only for decorative purposes, and when they were encountered in the wild, they were used as a medicinal plant. Now breeders are restoring the original appearance of carrots, trying to ennoble the qualities of an orange root crop.
The anti-cancer effect of purple carrots is not an unfounded claim. The properties of the root crop were studied at the University of Maryland in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences. Anthocyanins slow down the development of colon cancer. This action was explained by the presence of the carotenoid lutein in the composition of the root vegetable.
The amount of anthocyanins in purple carrots depends on the thickness of the colored layer:
- It is most pronounced in the "Purple Elixir" variety. This variety has orange color only at the core.
- The "Violet Haze F1" has an outer layer up to 0.5 cm, the flesh and core are the same as those of ordinary carrots.
- "Cosmic Purple" is an early ripening hybrid with bright purple carrots on the outside, but this layer can be removed along with the thin skin.
- "Purple dragon" differs from ordinary carrots not only by its unusual color, but also by its taste, it is spicy, slightly tart.
The use of purple carrots has a beneficial effect on the body, but the effect that was expected from it in Ancient Rome is not necessary to expect from it. Physicians of that time used a colored root vegetable to treat syphilis.
What to cook from purple carrots - watch the video:
Purple carrots are grown in the same way as regular carrots. The seeds can be purchased from hobby gardeners or ordered online.
