Varför är inte orangefärgade morötter så ovanliga?

Enligt Historien om morötter från World Carrot Museum:

The current yellow/orange varieties (containing carotene) through gradual selection in Europe, now form the basis of the commercial cultivars around the world, mainly through their superior taste, versatility, nutritional value and cultural acceptance.

Det är klart att tills nyligen som 1500 eller så, odlades morötter i olika färger som lila, gula och vita, men orange var inte bland dem. Holländska morotodlare, som var bland de mest produktiva, skapade apelsinhybriden:

The orange colour did not become popular until the 1500's when Dutch growers developed the mutant vegetable by selective breeding to make it less bitter than the yellow varieties, and then it was said to be adopted it as the Royal vegetable in honour of the House of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family, although there is no documentary evidence for this latter "fact". The first carrots were grown for medicinal purposes, perhaps the medicine tasted good! The main reason why cooks and housewives preferred orange carrots was because they kept their colour after cooking and did not leave cookware with an unpleasant colour. — Carrot Museum's Carrot Color page

Det finns faktiskt många apelsinvaror (förutom de många andra färgerna), som kommer i olika former från lång och mager (den japanska moroten) till kortare och snabbare (mer som en rädisa).