Economic and Academic Importance

Abstract

Carrot is a relatively recently domesticated vegetable crop that provides a significant source of dietary vitamin A to consumers. Earlier cultivar development for carrot was most extensive in temperate regions of Europe and Asia, but cultivars adapted to tropical and sub-tropical climates have contributed significantly to an increase in global carrot production in the last 50 years. Carrot germplasm includes a broad range of genotypic and phenotypic diversity that contributes to its wide adaptability. There has not been an extensive written historical record for carrot, where color and flavor were the most frequently noted attributes of the crop from its origins in Central Asia through its early development into the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, and Asia. Carotenoids and anthocyanins account for carrot colors and have been a major focus for carrot researchers, and the use of carrot in demonstrating biological totipotency and in providing the first evidence of plant transfer of mitochondrial DNA to the plastid genome has generated significant attention for carrot. The economic importance of carrot in agriculture and academic contributions attributable to carrot that are summarized in this chapter suggest an optimistic future for improved crop production and expanded basic research opportunities that are broadened with the availability of a carrot genome sequence.