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C. ALASALVAR, J. M. Grigor, D. Zhang, and P. C. Quantick. Dept. of Biological & Food Sciences, Food Research Center, Univ. of Lincolnshire & Humberside, Nun's Corner, North East Lincolnshire, Grimsby, DN34 5AZ, United Kingdom

In order to develop new varieties of carrots rich in antioxidants, flavor and sugar, and to assist in the breading program, it was necessary to analyze typical colored carrot varieties.

Our objective was to ascertain if there were any difference between colored carrots with regards to volatiles, phenolics, antioxidant, sugar and sensory response.

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used for the analysis of volatiles. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the phenolics, sugars and carotenes. Vitamin C content was measured by the indophenol titration method. The sensory quality of the carrots were assessed by the flavor profile method. Four different colored carrots; orange, purple with orange core, yellow and white, were studied.

Our results showed that, a total of 27 volatile compounds were positively identified and quantified in all carrots. White carrot contained the highest volatiles, followed by orange, purple and yellow. A total of 11, 16, 10 and 9 phenolic compounds were identified for the first time in orange, purple, yellow and white carrots, respectively. Of these, 5’-caffeoylquinic acid (chlorogenic acid) was the most predominant phenolic compound in all carrots. Total sugar ranged from 5.04 ± 0.49 - 5.47 ± 0.10 g/100 g. Differences (p<0.05) in relative sweetness, vitamin C, alpha and beta carotene content were observed among the colored carrot varieties. Purple carrot contained 2.2 and 2.3 times more alpha and beta carotene (trace in yellow; not detected in white) than orange carrot, respectively. The flavor characteristics: “cut carrot foliage”, “petrol” and “sweetness” showed a significant difference (p<0.05) between the colored carrot varieties.

Purple carrot studied here seems to demonstrate improved quality attributes when compared to orange, white and yellow varieties and therefore purple carrot may be considered as an alternative for the more common orange variety for marketing.