CARROTS USED TO BE PURPLE BEFORE THE 17TH CENTURY – The modern day orange carrot wasn’t cultivated until Dutch growers in the late 16th century took mutant strains of the purple carrot, including yellow and white carrots, and gradually developed them into the sweet, plump variety we have today. Before this, pretty much all carrots were purple with mutated versions occasionally popping up including these yellow and white carrots, among others. These, however, were rarely cultivated due to typically being very thin and not very good tasting.