Fruit & vegetable wholesalers in the UK: 8 fun facts about root vegetables

Whether you love them or hate them, there’s no denying vegetables are an important part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. These days, more and more people are choosing to fill their plates with both raw and cooked root vegetables. With root vegetables being more popular than ever, we thought we’d share some fun facts about two of our favourites, carrots and radishes.

1. Carrots come in many different colours

If we were to ask you what colour carrots are – most people would likely say orange. But what if we told you that not only do they come in orange but carrots also come in yellow, purple and white too.

2. Fun Nutritional Fact About Carrots

Did you know that an average size carrot contains 25 calories, 2 grams of fibre and 6 grams of carbs? In addition the delicious vegetable is an excellent source of vitamin A and beta carotene. The darker the orange colour the more beta carotene you’re receiving.

3. Carrots are Made up of 88% Water

When people look for a healthy snack they think of carrots. While carrots are delicious, most of what we’re consuming is water.

4. Cooking Carrots is Healthier for You Than Eating Them Raw

Some people like them raw while others prefer them cooked. But did you know that there’s actually a big difference between eating them raw as opposed to cooking them. Eating cooked carrots releases beta carotene which provides your body with vitamin A which is known to help improve eyesight. While cooking carrots can release up to 40% of the beta carotene raw carrots only release 2-4%.

5. Radishes: A Low Calorie Snack Option

Looking for a healthy snack option, then consider radishes. Just one cup of radishes contains only 19 calories. In addition they are a great source of vitamin C, calcium and potassium. They have also been shown to lower high blood pressure.

6. Eating Radishes Can Help Clean Out Toxins

Besides being low in calories, radishes can also help rid your body of harmful toxins. Radishes contain an ingredient called rafanol which helps the body get rid of toxins

7. History of the Radish

Radishes were first grown in China going back thousands of years. Eventually they made their way to Europe in the 1500’s. By 1629 radishes had managed to spread all the way to the shores of Massachusetts in the US.

8. Night of the Radish

As a Fruit and vegetable wholesaler it is important for us to share that every year on December 23 in the town of Oaxaca Mexico a wonderful festival is celebrated known as Night of the Radish. The grandiose festival dates back to the 16th century when visiting monks would bring radishes to sell in the markets. They would create all sorts of magnificent art from these root vegetables. Today farmers from near and far come to celebrate this holiday and display all their wonderful radish art.

Negev Produce’s Root Vegetables

Negev Produce grows our carrots and small radishes in the rich soil of Israel’s Negev region (hence the name). All year round we grow different types of carrots and small radishes based on the different seasons. Some of the different kinds of carrots we produce include Nairobi, Natuna and Dordogne.

Our delicious root vegetables are shipped worldwide to numerous countries and ports including Britain, France and the Netherlands. Not only do we pride ourselves on the quality of our vegetables we also take pride in delivering our products to you as fresh and of the highest quality possible.

The next time you’re at your local grocery store or fruits and vegetables wholesaler you may find yourself purchasing one of Negev Produce’s delicious produce.

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Kelly Tate

Kelly is a full-time supermum, caring for two kids and a hardworking husband. A cook, a cleaner, a carer and all round hard worker, striving for the perfect family life (with a few bumps along the way!) Eternally honest and sometimes brutally forward, no topics are off limits with Kelly.