Carrots History - The Road to Domestication of cultivated carrots

History Page 1 - A Brief Timeline
History Page 2 - Neolithic to AD 200 - Origins and development
History Page 3 - AD 200 to 1500 - From Medicine to Food
History Page 4 - 1500 to date - Evolution and Improvement - the modern carrot evolves.
History Page 5 - Explores, in some detail the theories of the road to domestication and the origin of Orange Carrots
History Page 6 - Takes an in depth look of the role of carrots in World War Two, reviving its popularity

Cultivation then Domestication

The Carrot has a somewhat complex and unclear history, surrounded by doubt and enigma and it is difficult to pin down when domestication took place. The wide distribution of Wild Carrot (Daucus carota, carota), the absence of carrot remains in archaeological excavations and lack of documentary evidence do not enable us to determine precisely where and when carrot domestication was initiated. Over thousands of years it moved from a small, tough, bitter and spindly root to a fleshy, sweet, pigmented unbranched edible root. It transformed from its seeds being used as a medicine or aphrodisiac to the root being eaten in many different dishes. Even before the introduction of domesticated carrots, wild plants were grown in gardens as medicinal plants.

Unravelling its progress through the ages is complex and inconclusive, but nevertheless a fascinating journey through time and the history of mankind.

The Wild Carrot is the progenitor (wild ancestor) of the domestic carrot. It is clear that the Wild Carrot and Domestic Carrot are not the same species and both co-exist in the modern world. It is a popular myth that domestic carrot was developed from Wild Carrot, probably because of its similar smell and taste. Botanists have failed to develop an edible vegetable from the wild root and when cultivation of garden carrots lapses a few generations, it reverts to another ancestral type, a species that is quite distinct. In 1866 French botanist M Vilmorin claimed to have produced a viable, cultivated carrot from wild plants in four generations. The experiment was never repeated and it is thought that the "wild" plants used had previously been hybridised in nature with cultivated carrots. (Banga 1957)

Wild carrot has existed across much of Europe and parts of Asia since Neolithic times, evidenced from seeds remains found in archaeological sites. The domestic carrot did not descend directly from the Wild Carrot, it is thought that in the experiment, in 1866, mutations from the wild varieties were erroneously selected and developed. The primary origins of the domesticated carrot are Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Carrot domestication took somewhat differing paths east and west of Central Asia.

Before the first reports of orange carrots, purple root colour was apparently more popular in eastern regions, yellow more popular in the west. Eastern carrots tend to have less deeply divided leaflets with heavy leaf pubescence in some cultivars. While early flowering is unacceptable for any carrot production, eastern carrots have a greater tendency toward early flowering than western carrots, likely due to the somewhat warmer climates over the eastern production range.

Beyond the yellow, purple, and orange root colours, eastern carrots have long included red-rooted types while western carrots included white-rooted types. Carrot use has also varied across production areas, with a more predominant use as animal forage in the east but largely human use as a root vegetable in the west.

The origin of the cultivated carrot is clearly acknowledged to be purple in colour and in the Afghanistan region mainly because it was known to exist there well before reliable literature references or paintings gave evidence of Western carotene carrots. It is thought to have been in existence a couple of thousand years bc. (Brothwell)

It is thought the carotene carrot was domesticated in the regions around Turkey. The precise date is not known but thought to be before the 8th century. Traders and adventurers visiting Afghanistan took the carrot to other places including the Mediterranean countries. It was probably the Romans who spread it into western Europe.

It has been suggested by several writers that a probable origin of the cultivated carrot is from a crossing of Wild Carrot (D Carota s. sp carota) and D Carota s. sp.maximus as many of the morphological characters of the cultivated carrot are intermediate between those of the afore mentioned sub species. (Thellung).

This makes a lot of sense when the maximus grows in regions around the Mediterranean and an abundance of wild carota in Asia Minor (which is nearby). So it is possible that subspecies sativus might have originated there. It is not clear where and when domestication took place, some commentators argue that if they did not originate in Afghanistan then they were first cultivated on the eastern Mediterranean, possibly Persia.

What is clear is that the purple carrot existed in Central Asia and was brought west by the Arabs in about the 10th century.

Modern research has shown that there are two distinct groups of domesticated carrots from which the modern orange carrot derives, these are distinguished by their root colours and habits, and the features of the leaves and flowers.

Eastern/Asiatic types - (var altorubens) with purple or yellow anthocyanin roots, sometimes yellow, often branched, with pubescent leaves giving a grey green appearance and slightly dissected, and a tendency for early flowering. The centre of diversity and origin of Eastern cultivated carrots is quite well established and probably commenced in the Himalayan-Hindu Kush region (Kashmir-Afghanistan) and around Turkestan. (Vavilov and Heywood)

Purple carrot, with a yellow variant, then spread to the Mediterranean and Western Europe where they responded well to cultivation and selection. Pigmentation of eastern carrots is caused by the water soluble anthocyanin which upon cooking gives the liquid a brownish purple colour.

Western carrot types - (var sativus) with yellow, orange or red, occasionally white carotenoid roots which are unbranched; they are also distinguished by less pubescent bright yellowish green slightly hairy leaves which are strongly dissected, and less tendency to bolt without extended exposure to low temperatures.

The centre for diversity for the western carrot is the Anatolian region of Asia Minor (Turkey).and Iran. (Vavilov and Heywood)

These reflect cultivation in the Asia Minor/ Mediterranean basin (Turkey) and temperate Europe and can probably be classed as a secondary centre of origin. The majority of modern commercial cultivars belong to this group. The yellow/orange colour of western carrots is caused by the plastid-bounded pigment carotenoids, carotene and xanthophyll. White carrots contain only traces of pigment, mainly carotene and xanthophyll. (Ladizinsky)

The combination of leaf and root differences between eastern and western carrots suggest that western carrots were not selected directly from eastern, but rather hybrids between early Mediterranean carrots, white rooted carrots and wild carrots, or mutations.

There is some evidence that hybridisation did not play an essential part of the genesis of the cultivated carrot and that there is strong reason to believe that mutation followed by selection was the main factor. (Banga 1963)

It is not clear where the Western orange carrot first appeared in its cultivated form, and several hypotheses exist. Some say that eastern carrot gave rise to the western carrot, although the intermediate stages are far from clear, and this is highly improbable as Eastern carrots contain no carotene, and there is no red carrot variety evidenced in Afghanistan. It is suggested that crosses between the Eastern and Western carrots (and perhaps Wild forms) in the regions of Asia Minor where Europe, Asia and the Mediterranean meet, led to the formation of the orange rooted carrot sub species. Turkey is often cited as the birthplace of the hybrids (or mutations) of the two groups. As is the case today, spontaneous hybridisation between wild and cultivated carrots is quite frequent and natural.

The most likely theory, in the opinion of the Carrot Museum, is that of Heywood 1983 - After the comparison of several arguments of various highly speculative theories regarding the origin of the western orange carrot, he postulated its selection was from a genepool involving yellow rooted eastern carrots, cultivated white-rooted derivatives of wild carrot (Daucus carota subspecies carota, grown as medicinal plants since classical times) and wild unselected populations of adjacent Daucus Carota subspecies in Europe and the Mediterranean. (V H Heywood - Relationship and Evolution in the Daucus Carota Complex - 1983)

Banga 1963 considers that the purple carrot spread into the Mediterranean in the 10th century where it is thought a yellow mutant appeared. The purple and yellow carrots both gradually spread into Europe in subsequent centuries. It is considered that the white carrot is also a mutant of yellow varieties.

Nevertheless cultivation of carrot in ancient times is still much disputed, mainly because daucus carota inter-crosses freely with other carota types, producing many and varied variations,

One theory proposes that orange was a characteristic of western carrots selected in Southern Europe or Asia Minor. A hybridisation theory supposes crosses between cultivated and wild germaplasm may have played a part in the enhanced pigment types. (Small 1978) Another states that orange-rooted carrots occurred in the Mediterranean, around Turkey, where cultivated carrot diversity was particularly prominent. (Mackevic 1932).

Another theory, (Banga) which has subsequently been discounted, is that, on the basis of the appearance in European oil paintings of the 16th and 17th centuries is it considered that the Dutch selected and fixed orange varieties from yellow, developing its colour from gradual selections of yellow carrots. The orange cultivars "late horn" and "half long horn" originated in the Netherlands during the seventeenth century. (Banga and Simon). Oddly white roots began to appear in pictures about the same time, perhaps implying that there had been little attempt by western Europeans to domesticate the wild, white rooted carrot until Moorish invaders came along with their coloured roots. Here are few examples of the depiction of coloured carrots at the time (click to see larger images - see more art works here).

A tale, probably apocryphal, has it that the orange carrot was bred in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century to honour William of Orange. Though the stabilised orange carrot does date from around seventeenth century Netherlands, it is unlikely that honouring William of Orange had anything to do with it! Some astute historian managed to install the myth that the work an unexpected mutation was developed especially to thank King William I as a tribute to independence from Spain.


Beuckelaer 1564	Beuckelaer 1566	Cotan 1602	Cotan 1602

Art works alone are not considered to be good enough evidence as the colours used are not always true to type, and artists use colour effects in arranging their subjects. So in paintings the differences between yellow and orange roots are due to artistic features rather than to differences between cultivars. One can probably say with certainty that orange varieties were grown in the Netherlands at this time but this does not prove their origin in that locality. (Brandenberg)

The 1551 edition of the "Libro de Agricultura" by Gabriel Alonso de Herrera has this to say about orange carrots.

Of carrots and parsnips. Platina puts these two kinds of roots in the same chapter even though they are different in their colours. Parsnips are white like turnips, except that they are thinner and longer. Carrots have the appearance of turnips, neither more nor less, except that some are the colour of oranges; others are so red that they turn dark.

Delas zanahorias y chirivias. Estas dos maneras de rayzes pone el Platina en un mismo capi. aun que ellas son differentes en sus colores: que las chirivias son blancas como los nabos salvo que son mas delgadas y largas. Las zanahorias son de la hechura de los nabos ni mas ni menos: salvo ser unas de color de naranjas: otras muy coloradas tanto que tornan en prietas. (Full extract here)

One of the first written evidences of an orange carrot, written in English (and therefore cannot be misinterpreted during translation) - A Catalogue of Seeds, Plants &c Sold by Will’m: Lucas att the Naked Boy near Strand Bridge London (C. 1677) - Carrots, red, orang and yellow. (note: orang is how it was spelled) (full list here)

A second reliable source, again in English, is Hortus Medicus Edinburgensis – A Catalogue of plants in the Physical Garden at Edinburgh by James Sutherland intendent of said garden in 1683.

This work makes reference to Orange, Red, Yellow and White carrots, together with the common Wild Carrot. It and also distinguishes them from Parsnip as a separate plant.(See extract here). This is a very useful record as it shows what actually existed in the botanic garden in Edinburgh.

Whatever the origins, the Long Orange Dutch cultivar, first described in writing in 1721, is the progenitor of the orange Horn carrot varieties (Early Scarlet Horn, Early Half Long, Late Half Long). All modern, western carotene varieties ultimately descend from these varieties. The Horn Carrot derives from the Netherlands town of Hoorn in the neighbourhood of which it was probably developed. Horenshce Wortelen (carrots of Hoorn) were common on the Amsterdam market in 1610. The earliest English seedsmen list Early Horn and Long Orange.

However! - There are compelling arguments for a much earlier, near eastern origin in the Byzantine illustration in the Dioscorides codex, drawn in 512 ad which shows quite clearly a carrot plant with a thick, orange coloured root, indicating that carotene cultivars already existed at that time. (photo left below, click to view a larger version).

There is subsequently an 11th century manuscript (known as Pseudo.-Apuleius, Dioscorides) which also shows an orange rooted variety. (below right).

Above Left - The oldest known manuscript of Dioscrodes work is the Juliana Anicia Codex (ca. 512 A.D.), housed in the Austrian National Library in Vienna. Listed as Codex Vindobonensis Medicus Graecus 1., it is better known as “Vienna Dioscorides,” the oldest and most valuable work in the history of botany and pharmacology.

Book 3 Chapter 59 -

The wild Staphylinos [Some call him Keraskome, the Romans Carota, Pastinaca also, the Egyptians Babibyru, Africans Sicha] Gingidion which has similar leaves, but broad and somewhat bitter, a erect, rough stem, this bears an umbel like dill, to the white blossoms, but in the middle a purple-colored, fungus similar [and saffron-colored like] entities are located.

The root is finger thick, a span long, fragrant, it is eaten cooked. The same drunk or suppositories inserted in the promoter of menstruation, it is potion also a good way against urinary retention, dropsy, and pleurisy against poisonous bites and stings Animals, it says that those who take him in advance, not by poisonous animals attacked. He also carried the pregnancy.

The root, however, which of course diuretic is irritating to both the cohabitation, but also raises them in the suppository is inserted, the embryo also. The finely pushed leaves, with honey applied, clean cancerous ulcers. The built Staphylinos is better to eat and also the same, but is of minor effect.

In 1655 John Goodyer made the above English translation of Dioscorides work from a manuscript copy, and in 1933 Robert T Gunther edited this. This was probably not corrected against the Greek, and this version of Goodyer's Dioscorides makes no such attempt either.

A modern interpretation made in June 2000 by Tess Anne Osbaldeston offers a more accessible text to today’s readers, as the ‘english-ed’ copy by Goodyer is generously endowed with post-medieval terminology.

3-59. STAPHULINOS AGRIOS,
STAPHULINOS KEPAIOS

SUGGESTED: Staphylinum [Pliny], Pastinaca sativa prima,
Pastinaca erratica, Carota [Fuchs], Daucus officinarum [Bauhin],
Daucus carota var sativa [Linnaeus] — Carrot
Daucus carota var sylvestris — Wild Carrot

Staphylinum has leaves like gingidium, only broader and somewhat bitter. It has a rough upright stalk with a tuft similar to dill on which are white flowers, and in the midst something small of a purple colour and of almost a saffron colour. The root is the thickness of a finger, twenty centimetres long, sweet smelling and edible (boiled as a vegetable). The seed induces the
menstrual flow, taken as a drink (or inserted as apessary), and is good in liquid medicines for frequent painful urination, dropsy, and pleurisy, as well as for the bites and strikes of venomous creatures.

They also say that those who take it beforehand shall experience no assault from wild beasts. It encourages conception. The
root (also being urinary) is applied to stir up sexual intercourse [aphrodisiac]. The leaves, pounded into small pieces with honey and applied, clean ulcers that spread.

The garden pastinaca is fitter to be eaten, and is good for the same purposes, working more weakly. It is also called cerascomen; the Romans call it carota, some pastinaca rustica, the Egyptians, babiburu, and the Africans sicham.

In around 950, Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq's produced a cookbook, the most comprehensive work of its kind. This traditional cookbook with more than 600 recipes using medieval ingredients and dishes from the luxurious cuisine of medieval Islam is also a rare guide to the contemporary culinary culture. He described the carrots used in his recipes thus:

1. Red-orange (jazar ahmar) carrot literally 'red', described as juicy, tender, and delicious. Poets compare it to carnelian, rubies, flames of fire, and coral reeds.

3. White Carrot (jazar abyad) similar to parsnips, aromatic, and deliciously sharp in taste. It is also described as having a pleasant crunch.

For more details on the cookbook and the 10th century recipes using carrots, there is a separate page in the Carrot museum. Here.

A further very early manuscript clearly shows an orange root, from Germany. Adam Lonitzer a German botanist, noted for his 1577 revised version of Eucharius Rösslin’s herbal, wrote Kreuterbuch including - "Pastenachen Mören Pastinaca sativa, & sylvestris". Photo, compliments of the Smithsonian Digital Collection of Early manuscripts.

The Foure Bookes of Husbandrie, collected by Conrad Heresbach 1577 make reference to Red and Yellow Carrots thus:

1677 - A Catalogue of Seeds, Plants &c Sold by Will’m: Lucas att the Naked Boy near Strand Bridge London (C. 1677) - Carrots, red, orang and yellow. (note: orang is how it was spelled) (full list here)

The Compleat Book of Husbandry, Volume three by Thomas Hale, 1758, which "contained rules for the whole business of farmer in cultivating, planting and stocking of land", gives a rare reference to the colours of carrots and orange in particular.

" Carrot - The root is long and thick, varying in colour from deepest orange to the palest straw...........There is a variety of colour in the roots of the carrot, the gardeners have hence made what they call three principal kinds: These they call, 1. The dark red carrot. 2. The orange carrot. And 3. the white carrot. The first and last of these terms are somewhat improper, the first kind being only a very deep orange, and the other a very pale yellow. The first is most esteemed. The white kind is more common in France and Italy than here; and is the sweetest and finest flavoured of them all. The farmer is to cultivate not that which is best, but what people think so; and therefore he is to chuse the deep red, commonly called the Sandwich carrot."

In 1768, Philip Miller writes in The Gardeners Dictionary; "the Orange Carrot is generally esteemed in London, where the yellow and the white Carrots are seldom cultivated."

Summarised Timeline of Cultivated Carrot (documentary evidence)
Time Period	Location	Colour
Pre-900s	Afghanistan and vicinity	Purple and yellow
900s	Iran and northern Arabia	Purple, Red and yellow
1000s	Syria and North Africa	Purple, Red and yellow
1100s	Spain	Purple and yellow
1200s	Italy and China	Purple and red
1300s	France, Germany, The Netherlands	Red, Yellow & White
1400s	England	Red & white
1500's	Northern Europe	Orange, Yellow & Red
1600s	Japan	Purple and yellow
1600s	North America	Orange and white
1700s	Japan	Orange and Red
Sources - Rubatzsky and Banga. Also Carrot Museum's Curator research material Reference material is here. Notes: Red was often confused with purple. Orange carrots may have been around well before 1100 - see above. The above listing is a "best guess" as there is much conflicting evidence. Carrots were also probably White throughout these periods, often confused with Parsnips (also white). There was (and still is!) enormous confusion when trying to sort out the individual histories of carrots and parsnips. The Latin name for the parsnip genus is thought to come from, meaning "food". This would further explain the historical confusion of the two vegetables, as well as offer a testament to how important they both were in the ancient diet.

W A. Brandenburg Possible relationships between wild and cultivated carrots (Daucus carota L.) in the Netherlands 1981
Use of Paintings from the 16th to 19th Centuries to Study the History of Domesticated Plants 1986

P W Simon Carrots and Related Umbelliferae 1999 (also various USDA publications authored by PW Simon)

Carrot, Daucus carota L. In "Genetic Improvement of Vegetable Crops", (ed. G. Kalloo, B.O. Bergh), Pergamon Press, Oxford, U.K., pp. 479-484 (1993).

The manuscript is known as the Vienna Dioscurides, or Dioscurides Codex Vindobonensis Kew Gardens Library

O Banga, 1957 Origin of the European cultivated carrot.
1957 The development of the original European carrot material.
1963. Main types of the western carotene carrot and their origin.
1963: Origin and distribution of the western cultivated carrot.

D R. Brothwell, P Brothwell Food in Antiquity: A Survey of the Diet of Early Peoples 1968 ISBN 0801857406, 9780801857409

G Ladizinsky Plant Evolution Under Domestication 1998SBN 0412822105, 9780412822100


Byzantine illustration 512 a.d.	11th Century Bodleian script