Carrot Powder – Organic

Organic Carrot Powder is made from carefully air-dried carrots, offering a naturally mild sweetness and fresh aroma. This convenient powder can be added to smoothies, soups, sauces, baked goods, and more, bringing the essence of carrots to a wide range of recipes.

Lightweight and shelf-stable, organic carrot powder is an easy way to enjoy the flavor and versatility of carrots year-round. It blends smoothly into both sweet and savory dishes, making it a practical addition to any kitchen.

For many years, we have been seeing a transition in the food supplement market to more whole-food-based formulas. One ingredient almost always found in these formulas is carrots. You may think this is because of carrots’ beta carotene content. However, with the wide variety of different-colored carrots, this tasty root provides nourishment from the entire carotenoid family.

1. Carotenoids are a class of red, orange, or yellow fat-soluble pigments produced by plants, algae, and photosynthetic bacteria. There are more than 600 types of carotenoids (some of the most common include alpha and beta carotene, lycopene, lutein, and beta-cryptoxanthin), all with unique attributes that are researched for their ability to take on antioxidant-like qualities potentially.
2. Carotenoids are classified into two primary groups: Xanthophylls (primarily protect from too much sunlight, contain oxygen, more yellow pigment, and are associated with nourishing the eyes), which closely associate with green leafy vegetables, and Carotenes (have no oxygen and are associated with orange pigment).
3. Anthocyanins are a part of the flavonoid family of polyphenolic compounds. They represent the pigments that exhibit the bright red, purple, and blue colors found in fruits and vegetables. The six most common are Cyanidins, Delphinidins, Malvidins, Peonidins, Petunidins, and Pelargonidins.

If you consider yourself a carrot authority, here are some fun facts about carrots you may not know:

1. Carrots are not a vegetable. In fact, there is technically no such thing as a vegetable because, according to most botanical guides, no part of the plant is named a vegetable. When we consume plants, we consume the root, shoot, stem, leaf, flower, sea pod, or seed.
2. While the root is the carrot’s most popular and best-tasting part, it is not the only edible part. The leaves, flowers, and seeds can be added to a salad or made into a pesto and are also edible and quite tasty.
3. Carrot leaf and flower (also known as  Queen Anne’s lace) have traditional medicinal uses and have been recognized for their possible diuretic, calmative, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory properties.
4. While most produce needs to be harvested before winter, carrots can freeze in the ground, and the soil acts as an insulator. So, you can wait to harvest them in the spring and will find that carrots left in the ground during the winter months are often sweeter.
5. Carrots are made up of around 88% water.
6. Cooked carrots are more nourishing than the raw version. You get around 3% beta carotene when consuming raw carrots, while cooked carrots provide up to 40%.
7. Planting a carrot in the ground will sprout again, producing a stalk, flower, and seeds.
8. The white flowers of the carrot are outstanding pollinators. 
9. Carrots were not originally orange. Orange carrots are a result of the carrot breeding game. The domesticated carrots originally came from the wild plant Queen Anne’s lace, which has white roots.
10. Eating raw carrots may be good for your teeth. Thick chunks of carrots are somewhat abrasive, which may help break up tarter and plaque buildup on your teeth.
11. Carotenoids are fat-soluble compounds. Therefore, they are best utilized when dietary fats are present.
12. Carrots are a member of the Apiaceace family. This family also includes celery, dill, and cilantro.
13. Carrots grow the tap root in the first year and the seed and flowers in the second year.
14. There are over 100 varieties of carrots. 
15. It has been said that the largest carrot ever recorded weighed over 20 pounds and was approximately 20 feet long. However, we were unable to verify this specific fact.

How to get the most nourishment from carrots

While eating raw carrots provides some nutritional support, specific factors must be applied to get the most bang for your buck. According to the Linus Pauling Institute, the bioavailability of carotenoids from most foods is relatively low. This is believed to be because carotenoids are associated with the proteins in the plant matrix. The Linus Pauling Institute also stated

1. For dietary carotenoids to be absorbed intestinally, they must be released from the food matrix and incorporated into mixed micelles (mixtures of bile salts and several types of lipids).
2. Carotenoid absorption requires fat in a meal, although the minimum amount of dietary fat required may differ for each carotenoid.
3. The type of fat (e.g., medium-chain vs. long-chain triglycerides), the presence of soluble fiber, and the type and amount of carotenoids (esterified vs. non-esterified) in the food also appear to influence the rate and extent of carotenoid absorption.
4. Because they do not need to be released from the plant matrix, carotenoid supplements (in oil) are more efficiently absorbed than food.

Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that cooking and adding a small amount of dietary fat (As little as 3 to 5 g) make all the difference when utilizing carrots’ various carotenoids and disturbing the matrix. Also, food processing helps release carotenoids embedded in their food matrix and increase intestinal absorption. Chopping, homogenizing, and cooking disrupt the plant matrix, increasing the bioavailability of carotenoids.

For example, the bioavailability of lycopene from tomatoes is substantially improved by heating tomatoes in oil. A straightforward way to apply these principles to our carrot powder is to add it to soups and stews, enhancing the flavor profile. 

Powered vs. Fresh: Are There Benefits of Consuming Air-Dried Carrot Powder?

The idea that we can’t replace fresh food with a powder to nourish our body is simply untrue. There are many significant advantages to using powders, especially carrots.

While there are many natural ways to dry foods and preserve their nutritional qualities, including low temperature, shade, air, sun, and freeze-drying, the quality of the raw materials predominantly determines the final product. Ultimately, preserving carrots’ incredibly nourishing qualities is best achieved through air-drying and creating a powder.

There are three primary advantages to using the air-drying method when creating a carrot powder.

1. Air-drying creates the closest end product when presenting a whole food complex.
2. Air-drying better holds a food’s cellular texture (with an average water content of 5%) and creates a better mouthfeel.
3. Air-dried foods generally allow you to customize your needs when creating a product. For example, air-dried food can be left whole, chopped, or milled into a powder. All of these will still offer the nutritional value of a fresh carrot.

While carrots in their natural state have an outstanding shelf life compared to other vegetables, this method preserves their structure and integrity and significantly extends it. The shelf life of any food or product is directly linked to its moisture content. An air-dried product has an average of only 5% or less moisture content. So, air-drying allows for greater versatility of the end product due to more accessible storage options and blending capability and supports the natural flavor profile of the fresh food version.

The following was concluded in an article, Nutrient-Dense Shelf-Stable Vegetable Powders and Extruded Snacks Made from Carrots and Broccoli.

1. Broccoli and carrot pomace powders were richer in fiber but had lower levels of total carbohydrates than the corresponding whole-vegetable powders.
2. Using powder instead of fresh vegetable ingredients can enhance the nutritional properties of extruded snacks by allowing more vegetable solids to be incorporated into the snack.
3. Providing vegetable powders and extruded snacks high in vegetable content in a convenient shelf-stable format increases the vegetable product offering for consumers, increasing consumer choice and vegetable consumption.
4. The production of shelf-stable vegetable powders and products will also reduce the amount of second-grade vegetables and by-products from juicing discarded as food waste.

Z Natural Foods hand-picks specific ingredients for our customers based on three concepts to provide the best quality product possible to support optimal well-being.

1. Versatility
2. History of safe and effective usage
3. Strong evidence of positive research outcomes in human.

Some research suggests that Carrots may contain the following constituents:

1. Minerals: Magnesium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Selenium
2. Vitamins: Vitamin C, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Vitamin B-6, Folate, Choline, Betaine, Vitamin A (RAE), Beta & Alpha-carotene, Vitamin A (IU), Lutein & Zeaxanthin, Lycopene, Vitamin E, Beta Tocopherol, Vitamin K
3. Amino Acids: Tryptophan, Threonine, Isoleucine, Leucine Lysine, Methionine, Cystine, Phenylalanine, Tyrosine, Valine, Arginine, Histidine, Alanine, Aspartic Acid, Glutamic Acid, Glycine, Proline, Serine
4. Flavones: Luteolin
5. Flavonols: Kaempferol, Quercetin

This product is 100% natural and minimally processed. Taste, smell, texture, and color may vary from batch to batch. Due to its nature, this powder tends to clump. If clumping occurs, lay the bag on a flat surface and place a towel over the bag. Then pound on the bag until the clumps break up. The towel will help protect the bag from damage.

Suggested Use: One tablespoon twice daily. One tablespoon of powder provides the nutrition of one medium size Carrot.

Mixing suggestion: To increase flavor and nutritional profile, combine with our organic Broccoli, Beet, Spinach, Kale, and Tomato powders for your homemade V8.

Botanical Name: Daucus Carota.
Other Names: Bird’s nest, Queen Anne’s lace, Wild Carrot, Zanahoria.

Parts Used: Carrot Root.
Ingredients: Raw Carrot.
Origin: Grown and dried in China. Packaged with care in Florida, USA.

Certifications: Certified USDA Organic.