Rainbow Carrots?

[kalphawk]

This is probably a dumb question, but I am not a big veggie eater so I have to ask. I went to the grocery store that has had a recent remodel and they now have organic rainbow carrots. I was wondering if they offer the same nutritional content, but just another color. I tried good ole Google to help me but I haven't really found what I have been looking for. I found some little specific differences, but not a general difference. I live in a small town and while I do have two large name grocery stores I do not have a large variety of fresh produce to make my chop with and was thinking these carrots may add a little bit of color to help keep my boy interest.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Still nutritious, just perhaps different ratios (like red bell pepper versus green bell pepper). We're just so used to orange coloured carrots (thank the Dutch)

I'd say go ahead and add them in!

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL, the orginal carrot was a pale yellowish stringy plantroot, so any colour goes.


We had this discussion a few months ago in the botanical gardens as well- and our resident expert said it was 'just colour', nutritional value is about the same (of course the soil etc. will have some influence).
Ivo - in charge of the edible-plants section of the gardens - also planted some rainbows this year, they turned out greatlooking. The colours are really fun!

 

[EllenD]

I would think that the only difference would be the Carotene content, as that is what makes them orange, so I'd be willing to bet that if there is any large nutritional difference between them, its going to be that orange carrots have a much higher content of Vitamin A. That's about it, as they are actually grown from the same plant, but the plant is grown in different soils/conditions to get the different colors of root.

Honestly, raw carrots aren't the best veggie to give your birds, small animals/rodents, reptiles, etc. anyway, at least not in large quantities, only because their overall nutritional content isn't anywhere near that of the raw, green veggies and greens. So there are better options, however they are still good for them and the color of carrot won't matter as long as they are getting enough vitamin A content from their pellets/seeds and other fresh veggies...