Carrots are naturally orange due to the pigment __beta-carotene__, which is also found in other fruits and vegetables with orange hues. Beta-carotene is a type of carotenoid, a group of pigments that give plants their color and also have health benefits for humans, such as being a source of vitamin A.

Plants produce pigments like beta-carotene to help with various functions. In the case of carrots, beta-carotene plays a role in photosynthesis, which is how plants make food using sunlight. It also serves as a protective mechanism against the damaging effects of sunlight. When we eat carrots, our bodies can convert the beta-carotene into vitamin A, which is an essential nutrient for our vision, immune system, and overall health. So, not only do carrots get their orange color from beta-carotene, but they also provide us with an important nutrient.

Carrots were not always orange. Wild carrots started off as either white or pale yellow, but changed to purple and yellow when people first domesticated the vegetable almost 5,000 years ago in the Persian Plateau area. These domesticated carrots were later split into two main groups: the Asiatic group, which was cultivated around the Himalayas, and the Western group, which grew largely in the Middle East and Turkey. Yellow carrots in the Western group probably mutated into more orange hues, which farmers then selectively planted.
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