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Botanical Name :
Daucus
carota
Sanskrit name
:
Shikha-mula, Garijara
English Name :
Cultivated
Carrot
Family:
Apiaceae
Description
of
Daucus carota:
Daucus carota
is a
flowering plant
in the family
Apiaceae,
native to
temperate
regions of
Europe and
southwest
Asia;
domesticated
carrots are
cultivars
of a subspecies, Daucus carota subsp. sativus.
Daucus carota
is a variable
biennial plant,
usually growing up to 1 m tall and flowering from June to August. The
umbels are
claret-coloured or pale pink before they open, then bright white and
rounded when in full flower, measuring 3–7 cm wide with a festoon of
bracts
beneath; finally, as they turn to
seed, they
contract and become concave like a bird's nest. This has given the plant
its British common or vernacular name, Bird's Nest. Very similar in
appearance to the deadly
Water Hemlock,
it is distinguished by a mix of bi-pinnate and tri-pinnate
leaves,
fine hairs on its stems and leaves, a root that smells like
carrots,
and occasionally a single dark red
flower in
its center.
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Principal
Constituents:
Carrot is valued as food mainly because it is a rich source of the
fat-soluble hydrocarbon, C40H56, the ß form of which is the precursor of
vitamin A. Carrots contain a variety of carotenoids that are responsible
for the typical colors of the root. The main pigments of orange carrot
are a- and ß-carotene. The seed oil has a sweet anise like odor and the
main components identified were ß-bisabolene, Cis and trans -asarene,
asarone aldehyde and phenolic compounds such as eugenol
2-hydroxy-4-methoxyacetophenone and vanillin.
Medicinal Value:
Carrot seeds are aromatic, stimulant and carminative. They are
reported to be useful in diseases of the kidney and in dropsy. The seeds
are reported to exhibit anti-fertility activity. The ethanolic extracts
of seeds showed diuretic activity. The essential oil from leaves and
seeds showed antifungal activity, used as a sunscreen and fragrance
component in soaps, creams and lotions. The aqueous extract of carrot
showed hepatoprotective activity.
Herbal Extract packing:
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