Skip to content

Large carrot

The great carrot is a plant whose seeds are used to make medicine.

It is used to treat digestive disorders, asthma, chest pain, kidney stones and water retention.

Some people apply carrot seed directly to the skin to treat skin conditions including psoriasis and white spot. One should not confuse great carrot (Latin name Ammi Majus) with the more commonly used and related khella (Latin name Ammi Visnaga). These two plant species contain the same chemicals and have similar effects in the body. However, great carrot is more commonly used to treat skin conditions, while khella is usually used for heart and lung conditions.

How does carrot cartilage work?

The great carrot contains several chemicals that are used to make a prescription medicine to treat psoriasis.

How effective is great carrot?

There is not enough scientific data to make a statement about the efficacy of carrot of cartilage for skin conditions such as psoriasis and white spot disease, asthma, chest pain, kidney stones or water retention.

Further scientific research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of carrot for these conditions.

Safety and side effects

There is not enough information available to assess whether carrot is safe and harmless. When taken orally, carrot can cause nausea, vomiting and headaches. Some people have an allergic reaction to carrot. For them, carrot can cause a runny nose, skin rash or hives. There are also concerns that the carrot can damage the liver and the retina of the eye.

The carrot can make the skin extremely sensitive to sunlight. This could increase the risk of skin cancer. For this reason, sunblock should be used when using carrot outdoors, especially for people with fair skin.

Precautions and warnings

Pregnancy and breastfeeding: It is not safe to use carrot during pregnancy. The large cartilage carrot contains a chemical called khellin, which can cause contractions of the uterus that can jeopardize pregnancy. It is also best to avoid big knobbed carrot while breastfeeding, as there is not enough information to say whether big knobbed carrot is safe for breastfed babies.

Liver diseases: There are indications that carrot cartilage may aggravate liver diseases.

Surgery: Great cartilage carrot could slow down blood clotting. There are concerns that carrot may increase the risk of bleeding during and after surgery. For this reason, you should stop using carrot at least 2 weeks before an operation.

Interactions

Care should be taken when combining carrot with the following medications:

Medications that are broken down by the liver (cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) substrates).

Some drugs are broken down by the liver. The large cartilage carrot could slow down the rate at which the liver breaks down certain drugs. Taking carrot in combination with medications that are broken down by the liver may increase the effects and side effects of some medications. For this reason, you should consult your doctor before taking large carrot if you are taking medication that is broken down by the liver.

Medication that can damage the liver

The large cartilage carrot could damage the liver. Taking carrot in combination with medicines that can also damage the liver could increase the risk of liver damage. For this reason, you should not take carrot if you are taking medication that can damage the liver.

Medications that can increase the skin's sensitivity to sunlight

Some medications can increase sensitivity to sunlight. The large carrot could also increase sensitivity to sunlight. Taking carrot in combination with medications that can increase sensitivity to sunlight can increase the risk of sunburn, blistering or reddening of skin areas exposed to the sun. For this reason, you should use a sunblock when taking such a combination and wear protective clothing when spending time in the sun.

Medications that slow down blood clotting

The large cartilage carrot could slow down blood clotting. Taking large carrot in combination with medications that slow down blood clotting could increase the risk of bleeding and the tendency to bruise.

Dosage

An appropriate dosage of carrot depends on various factors such as age, state of health and others. At present, there is insufficient scientific data to be able to make a statement about appropriate dosage ranges for large carrot. For this reason, you should follow the dosage instructions on the label and/or consult a doctor or pharmacist before use.

References

  1. Abdel-Fattah A, Aboul-Enein MN, Wassel GM, El-Menshawi BS. An approach to the treatment of vitiligo by khellin. Dermatologica 1982;165:136-40.
  2. Ahsan SK, Tariq M, Ageel AM, et al. Effect of Trigonella foenum-graecum and Ammi majus on calcium oxalate urolithiasis in rats. J Ethnopharmacol 1989;26:249-54.
  3. Bethea D, Fullmer B, Syed S, et al. Psoralen photobiology and photochemotherapy: 50 years of science and medicine. J Dermatol Sci 1999;19:78-88.
  4. Bourinbaiar AS, Tan X, Nagorny R. Inhibitory effect of coumarins on HIV-1 replication and cell-mediated or cell-free viral transmission. Acta Virol 1993;37:241-50.
  5. Chevallier A. Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine. 2nd ed. New York, NY: DK Publ, Inc, 2000.
  6. Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases. Available at: http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/.
  7. Fetrow CW, Avila JR. Professional's Handbook of Complementary & Alternative Medicines. 1st ed. Springhouse, PA: Springhouse Corp, 1999.
  8. Hamerski D, Schmitt D, Matern U. Induction of two prenyltransferases for the accumulation of coumarin phytoalexins in elicitor-treated Ammi majus cell suspension cultures. Phytochemistry 1990;29:1131-5.
  9. Harvengt C, Desager JP. HDL-cholesterol increase in normolipaemic subjects on khellin: a pilot study. Int J Clin Pharmacol Res 1983;3:363-6.
  10. Kiistala R, Makinen-Kiljunen S, Heikkinen K, et al. Occupational allergic rhinitis and contact urticaria caused by bishop's weed (Ammi majus). Allergy 1999;54:635-9.
  11. Malhotra S, Bailey DG, Paine MF, Watkins PB. Seville orange juice-felodipine interaction: comparison with dilute grapefruit juice and involvement of furocoumarins. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2001;69:14-23.
  12. Osher HL, Katz KH, Wagner DJ. Khellin in the treatment of angina pectoris. N Engl J Med 1951;244:315-21.
  13. Ossenkoppele PM, van der Sluis WG, van Vloten WA. [Phototoxic dermatitis following the use of Ammi majus fruit for vitiligo]. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 1991;135:478-80.
  14. Shlosberg A, Egyed MN. Examples of poisonous plants in Israel of importance to animals and man. Arch Toxicol Suppl 1983;6:194-6. .
  15. Tritrungtasna O, Jerasutus S, Suvanprakorn P. Treatment of alopecia areata with khellin and UVA. Int J Dermatol 1993;32:690.