Mighty maroon is more than a collegiate color these days. Maroon is an exciting marketing
tool that distinguishes a new, highly nutritious and tasty carrot from all the rest.

According to Dr. Leonard M. Pike, research leader at the Vegetable Improvement Center,
located in the Texas A&M. Research Park at College Station and developer of the new
BetaSweet variety, a great deal of progress has been made in improving the taste,
appearance and beta carotene content of carrots in recent years. However, since the varieties
have all been orange, product promotions have been tough-until now.

"If you develop something new that is truly, significantly better for nutrition and health, you
must be able to identify it. It’s got to be carried through to the consumer. Once we develop
these varieties, we must develop these varieties we must have a way to get the consumer to
know what they are to get the flow back to the grower. What is what agriculture’s
about-breeding to nutrition to grower, shipper, trucker, chemical producer and retailer," Pike
said at a Vegetable Field Day in Uvalde. "The maroon color is perfect for identifying and
promoting the new BetaSweet variety."

Pike says the gene responsible for purple or maroon color is a natural one that has been
around for many years and, in fact, has been segregated out and discarded when it appeared
in order to retain the traditional orange color for carrots. In 1989, three carrots grown from
Brazilian seed were observed to have a blotchy maroon color mixed with the normal orange,
which gave Pike an idea. Initially, he planned to develop a maroon carrot for home
gardeners, a novelty variety that boasted the color of Texas A&M University.

"Within two generations of breeding effort, I had obtained a few a carrot roots with near
complete maroon exterior and orange interior. The contrast of orange and maroon was very
attractive in carrots cut into coins or sticks. My research objective changed instantly from
developing a novelty carrot into a ‘designer’ carrot variety with all the flavor, nutrition and
health requirements possible."

Cancer-preventing traits

Private industry, other universities and Texas A&M departments at Weslaco, Lubbock,
Overton, Uvalde and El Paso, as well as medical staff at M.D. Anderson Hospital in
Houston, collaborated on the research effort.

"Early man used food to prevent disease. For a long time, the medical profession has treated
disease with drugs and surgery. Now, we are seeing a return to prevention and an emphasis
on disease-preventing vegetables. In addition to carrots, priority vegetables in Texas include
melons, onions, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. These crops that have
benefits that can be genetically changed to prevent cancer," the researcher noted.

Health-wise, the BetaSweet carrot is uniformly high in beta carotene with a third of a carrot
per day providing the minimum daily requirement.

"It’s a potent antioxidant, right along with blackberries, blueberries and cherries," said Pike.

He said several additional generations of carrots were required in the development of
BetaSweet using extensive laboratory testing for low terpenoids (strong carrot flavors), high
sugars, high carotene, and crispy texture.

Thousands of carrot roots were analyzed and selected for desired qualities and for the dark
maroon exterior and orange interiors. The few best for those characteristics were
intercrossed,* and re-selected for their adaptation when grown under Texas climate
conditions. Eventually, four advanced breeding lines were tested as potential commercial
varieties. The name "BetaSweet" was selected from a "name the new maroon carrot contest"
sponsored by Progressive Farmer magazine in 1995.

Consumer-oriented strategy

BetaSweet carrots are being introduced to consumers in the form of coins and sticks in a
specialty-designed package bearing carrot cartoon characters to attract children.

"The family we’ve started with is called the "Beta Bunch". We have "Beta Bites," a Beta
Sweet teenage carrot girl and parents, "BetaKing" and "BetaQueen." We’re working on
"MegaBeta," a little boy carrot with muscles," Pike reported.

McManus Produce in Weslaco, a supporter of vegetable research in the Vegetable
Improvement center since 1992-one of 34 companies in 16 states besides Texas supporting
the research-has already packaged "baby style" carrots and agreed to assist with the
Agriculture Communications Department at Texas A&M and wife of Leonard Pike, worked
with McManus to design the package.

John Lackey, vice president of McManus Produce, is growing "BetaSweet" and marketing it
through VIC member grocery stores who are also VICs partner in vegetable research. The
effort has been a model of partnership between various private companies and scientists in
the Agriculture Program at Texas A&M to develop new, improved vegetables to benefit
agriculture in Texas and to provide the consumer a more healthful product.