pigment power in carrots

I was looking for purple carrots and found this article about pigments - according to the carrot museum - http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/maroon.html - carrots weren't always orange

More recently,( Philipp Simon ) recognized the potential nutritional value of the vegetable's other pigments. Now Simon studies yellow, orange, red, purple, and white carrots. Yellow carrots contain xanthophylls, pigments similar to beta carotene, which help develop healthy eyes and may prevent lung and other cancers. Red carrots contain lycopene, a pigment also found in tomatoes and watermelon; lycopene helps prevent heart disease and some cancers including prostate cancer. Purple carrots contain anthocyanins, pigments that act as powerful antioxidants, grabbing and holding on to harmful free radicals in the body. Anthocyanins also help prevent heart disease by slowing blood clotting. White carrots lack pigment, but may contain other health-promoting substances called phytochemicals.

http://www.pomesmart.com/smart/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=7

I've tried purple and yellow, both yum. Now for white and red!

Shame we've been disconnected from all this knowledge about food. I regret I didn't learn more earlier on - I might have made more of an attempt to grow heirlooms - think I missed out and so did my kids.

Couldn't agree more Fran. I intend making sure the school garden I'm working on has plenty of diversity so that kids see and taste as many different things as possible.