Every year , there seems to be a newfangled “ superfood ” on the scene . Blueberries . Pomegranates . Acai berry . Purple moolah . What they all have in vulgar , besides being the “ it ” factor in countless smoothie recipes , is the front of anthocyanins .
Anthocyanins are naturally occurring compounds that give plants their vivacious purple , pink , red , and puritanical coloring and are observe in the root , bow , leaves , flowers , and fruits . They also have antioxidant ability and are trust to be anti - inflammatory , anti - viral , and anti - Crab . ( I ’ve written more about anthocyanins — and their health - boosting and colour - shifting properties — inred cabbageandpurple beans . )
Because of all these benefits — and the fact that they sum a gorgeous pop of colour in a garden reign by greens — many of my pet thing to grow are rich in anthocyanins , from raspberries to mulberry tree , red beets to royal broccoli .
And cultivated carrot . Carrots of all coloring , but especially flushed and purpleness . When I come acrossPusa Asita carrots , which claim to be almost entirely sinister , I was intrigued .
They are not the product of hybridization or genetic engineering , but rather , an open - pollinated kind created by vegetable scientist Pritam Kalia of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi , India . He ’s weigh an unusual person among flora breeders , who are often invade with evolve exclusive ( and profit - generating ) intercrossed seed unachievable by the miserable . In line , his work is sharpen on creating unfastened - pollinated motley for small farmers and subsistence growers so they have approach to hardy , nutritious - productive foods .
For the retiring 30 years , Kalia has been by nature take breeds for high nutritional subject matter . Pusa Asita carrot are one such variety to come out of his study . So laden with anthocyanins that they are nearly black , Pusa Asita carrots are standouts in the garden with their purple - tinged leaf and stems , some more pigmented than others .
Carrots harvested at their peak have distinctive purple and magenta cores , which darken to an inky semblance the longer they ’re left in the ground . And ink is apropros — the paint will stain your knife , your mitt , and everything they come in contact with ! Unlike other anthocyanin - rich vegetables , likeRoyal Burgundy dome , Pusa Asita carrot retain all their color during cookery , even if they twist a roll of soup purple . When eaten raw , they have a cryptical earthy flavor ; after roasting , they work a cutaneous senses sweeter .
They do have more ascendant hair than regular carrots ( some had out-and-out beard ! ) and the few I grow in my garden seemed to struggle with the dense clay grease ( as evidenced by their stocky physical body and distorted taproot ) . But despite being among the “ ugliest ” vegetable in the garden , these carrots claim a smasher all their own .
