Botany
Carrot is an erect, vegetable herb, growing 30 to 60 centimeters in height, with 2 to 3 pinnate leaves, the ultimate leaflet being oblong-lanceolate or linear. Flowers are small, white, or yellow, borne in compound umbels. Fruit is small, ellipsoid, dorsally compressed, bristled and ribbed. The tap root is robust, sometimes swollen, fleshy, and yellow or orange-colored.
Distribution
- Cultivated for its fleshy roots.
- Grows best at high elevation, particularly the Baguio area.
- Introduced to the Philippines.
- Native of Europe, northern Africa, and Asia.
Constituents
- Leaves contain a volatile oil with pyrrolidine, daucine, and mannite.
- Roots yield volatile oil 0.0114%; fixed oil, carotin,
lecithin, phosphatide, glutamine, sugar 4 to 12%, d-glucose, malic acid, pectin 1 to 3%, asparagine, inosite, etc.
- Leaves and seeds yield an alkaloid; the seeds, in addition, yield a bitter glucoside.
Properties
Astringent, antiseptic,
anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, sudorific.
Parts
used
Roots, seeds.
 Uses
Culinary / Nutritional / Edibility
- A valued vegetable, eaten raw or cooked.
- An ingredient of Philippine achara; also used in various native dishes.
-
Roots are a good source of calcium, iron, and phosphorus; a fair source of vitamin B; and a source of vitamins A, C and B2.
- In Java, the young leaves are eaten.
Folkloric
- Believed to be beneficial
for cancers and kidney problems.
- For coughs and chest afflictions, the roots are boiled in milk; the
milk is drunk and a poultice of the root is applied to the chest.
- In Mexico, roots are boiled in milk and used for coughs and chest affliction.
- For burns and infected ulcers, grated carrots are applied to the affected
parts.
- Ointment made from roots and lard used for burns and scalds.
- Raw carrots eaten as mechanical anthelmintic.
- Root made into marmalade used as refrigerant.
- Poultice of carrots also used for ulcers, carbuncles, infected wounds.
- Seeds of the plant when ground to powder and taken as tea for colic
and to increase urine flow.
- Tea of carrot blossoms has been used for treatment of dropsy.
- In India, seeds as considered a nervine tonic; Decoction of leaves and seeds used as stimulant to the uterus during parturition. In the Punjab, seeds are used as aphrodisiac and used for uterine pain. Fruit is recommended for chronic diarrhea. Seeds also used as abortifacient.
- In European folk medicine,
root decoction used for jaundice and hepatic disorders.
 Studies
• Hepatoprotective:
(1) A study of carrot extract revealed it could provide significant
protective action in the alleviation of CCl4-induced hepatocellular
injury. (2) Study of carrot extract showed it restored the depressed
antioxidants and HDL levels to near normal and afforded a significant
protective effect against lindane-induced hepatotoxicity.
• Antitumor: Study
of the petroleum ether extract of seeds of carrot showed antitumor activity,
inhibiting the growth of Ehrlich ascites tumor in mice.
• Antifungal / Cytotoxicity:
Study or Daucus carota oil showed it to contain high amounts of elemicin
with its strong antifungal activity with cytotoxicity and low detrimental
effect on mammalian cells.
• Cardiovascular / Hypotensive Effect:
(1) Study of ethanolic extract exhibited Ca+ channel blocking-like direct
relaxant action on cardiac and smooth muscle preparation, an activity probably responsible
for its hypotensive effect. (2) Study results imply that D. carota is a potential source of protection from myocardial infarction and maintenance of its tonicity.
• Hypolipidemic / Cognitive Dysfunction
Benefits: Daucus carota extract significantly reduced
brain acetylcholinesterase activity and cholesterol levels in mice. Results
suggest it may be a useful remedy for management of cognitive dysfunctions
with multifarious beneficial activities including memory improving property,
cholesterol lowering benefits and anticholinesterase activity.
• Intraocular Pressure Lowering:
Topical application of DC seed extract in rabbits showed a comparatively
slower onset of action but the duration of action comparable to pilocarpine
in all experimental models.
• Cognitive and Memory Benefits: Study of ethanol extract of D. carota suggest it may prove useful for the management of cognitive dysfunctions with memory improving property, cholesterol lowering and anticholinesterase activity.
• Hypolipidemic:
Ethanolic extract of seeds exhibited a significant lowering of total cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL ?, and VLDL as compared to the control group. The antioxidant potential of seeds contributed to the reduction of oxidative stress and lipid levels in experimental rats.
• Antinociceptive / Anti-Inflammatory:
Ethanolic seed extract investigated for anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity in acute and chronic models in rats inhibited carrageenan, histamine, and serotonin-induced paw edema. The extract also significantly attenuated the writhing responses induced by intraperitoneal acetic acid injection.
Availability
Cultivated
market produce.
Carrot seed essential oil in the cybermarket. |
