Carrot salad - to peel or not to peel?

[Phaedrus]

When making the carrot salad, in the past I have always peeled the carrots. This is more or less a culinary habit - any cook worth their apron will tell you that the more bitter-tasting outer skin isn’t ideal for your recipes.

But my wife made the observation (which was obvious in retrospect) that on the rare occasions when we buy a bag of those peeled mini carrots, they go bad a lot faster than when we buy whole unpeeled carrots. Could that be because the highest concentration of antibiotic compounds are perhaps found within the outer skin of the carrot? If so, wouldn’t you want to include that in the salad where the whole point is to help sterilize the gut?

I would be curious if anyone has any evidence to back up my hunch, or if you have other reasons to peel or not to peel your carrots.

 

[FrostedShores]

I did a quick web search and found the following links:

Carrots are healthy, peeled or unpeeled
Should Carrots Be Peeled or Are They More Nutritious With the Peel Left On? | Livestrong.com

Both articles seem to agree that it's fine to eat the peel, but it doesn't seem to affect the nutritional content that much.

I personally think peeling carrots is a good thing. It helps remove any residue, along with pesticides and any other nasties that may be lurking on the carrot. I also know it's good to peel other fruits/vegetables because the lectins and antinutrients are more concentrated in the skin and outer layer - I'm assuming the same is true for carrots.

I could be wrong on all accounts, though. I'm interested to see what others say about this.

 

[Phaedrus]

I did a quick web search and found the following links:

Carrots are healthy, peeled or unpeeled
Should Carrots Be Peeled or Are They More Nutritious With the Peel Left On? | Livestrong.com

Both articles seem to agree that it's fine to eat the peel, but it doesn't seem to affect the nutritional content that much.

I personally think peeling carrots is a good thing. It helps remove any residue, along with pesticides and any other nasties that may be lurking on the carrot. I also know it's good to peel other fruits/vegetables because the lectins and antinutrients are more concentrated in the skin and outer layer - I'm assuming the same is true for carrots.

I could be wrong on all accounts, though. I'm interested to see what others say about this.

Thanks! I had the same thought - I usually always peel carrots not just for flavor, but also to make sure I removed any potential pesticide or soil contaminants, especially if I was eating non-organic. Maybe the whole reason peeled carrots degrade quicker is that the moisture isn’t as contained, so they simply get slimy faster. But I’d still be curious if there’s more antimicrobial value to the outer skin.

 

[Fred]

The peel might protect the carrot from rotting due to its lower permeability, not necessarily its higher concentration of antibiotics. I would guess the answer to this question is already known, but I'm too lazy to look it up.

 

[OliviaD]

I'm with you!
Also, R.P. has us peel the entire carrot to expose all those 'surfaces' - so I assume there are plenty of ABs in the entire carrot.
Also, what Fred said :)

 

[Veritas IV]

Bump:

Pretty sure i recall Ray mentioning that phytic acid is concentrated in the carrot peel. If i stumble upon that info again i'll be sure to post it here. And if true then consuming it every day, for years on end, may have a negative effect on some.

But otherwise i'd imagine there's other things that attach themselves to the skin that may be hard to wash off, the answer to that would be peeling!

 

[Chad_Catholic]

i have actually noticed a better effect with the skin on believe it or not