Pikpik carrots are the vegetables native to Captain Olimar's home planet, Hocotate. They were the sole reason Pikmin have their name, because Olimar believed that they resembled them. These look just like normal carrots, orange, small sized, and have long leafy parts. These are seen in the in-game Piklopedia in Pikmin 2, and are used to throw at the enemies/plants to see what reaction would occur, such as the creature moving or waking up, or eating and attacking them.
Golden Pikpik carrots are completely gold, even the leafy stem, and on one occasion, some were sent with Louie to be shipped somewhere, but Louie ate these and returned with a misleading report that a space bunny ate them so he could avoid getting reprimanded or fired. The Golden Pikpik carrots are a little longer then normal ones, and have three curled roots instead of the basic cone shaped root seen on a normal carrot.