Wild carrots are small, spindle-like, white, and slim. They are both aromatic and acrid making their flavour undesirable and therefore wild carrots are not a popular dietary option and are considered weeds in most countries. Nonetheless they was originally cultivated some 5,000 years ago in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, for their aromatic leaves and seeds, for medicinal purposes, rather than for their roots.

However the cultivation of the carrot resulted in a significant change in both colour and taste, as they were selectively bred over the centuries to reduce bitterness, increase sweetness and minimise the woody core; this process eventually produced the familiar garden vegetable.

Up to the 17th century, the domesticated varieties of the wild carrot were purple or yellow, but at the turn of the 18th century Dutch growers created the orange variety that we eat today. This replaced the purple and yellow varieties, which had a tendency to brown soups and soups, thereby reducing the visual appeal of food.