Carrots (Daucus carota L.) are a globally important vegetable crop providing a source of important nutritional compounds through their carotenoid content whilst adding flavour and texture to many diets across the world. The current research focuses on the evaluation of sugars, vitamin C and dietary fibre content in ‘Nante’ hybrid carrots. The research was accomplished on fresh in Latvia cultivated carrots harvested in Zemgale region in the first part of October 2011 and immediately used for experiments. Late-bearing hybrids of ‘Nante’ carrots were used for analysis: Nante/ Berlikum, Nante/Maestro, Nante/Forto, Nante/Bolero, and Nante/Champion. The major sugars (fructose, glucose and sucrose) were determined by applying the method of high performance liquid chromatography, vitamin C - by titration with 0.05 M iodine solution, and dietary fibre - using standard method No 985.29. In the present experiments it was found that there are significant differences in the sugar, vitamin C and dietary fibre content between different carrot hybrids. The highest content of total sugars was found in Nante/Maestro and Nante/Champion 7.99 g 100 gE-1 and 7.57 g 100 gE-1 hybrids in fresh weight, respectively. The lowest total sugars content was in Nante/Berlikum hybrid − 4.03 g 100 gE-1. Vitamin C content in carrot hybrid Nante/Maestro was the highest 17.61±0.17 mg 100 gE-1, but in hybrid Nante/Champion - the lowest 8.39±0.17 mg 100 gE-1 of fresh weight. The dietary fibre content in analysed carrot samples ranged from 34.25±0.47 g 100 gE-1 in Nante/Maestro to 25.78±1.54 g 100 gE-1 in Nante/Champion hybrids.

The aim of the research was to evaluate how the quality of carrots is affected by organic and conventional production systems. The experiment was carried out at the Estonian Crop Research Institute in 2009. Conventional treatment received the following amount of nutrients via mineral fertilizers: N 115, P 40 and K 152 kg haE-1. For plant protection, the following pesticides were used: Fenix, Fastac 50, Agil and Signum. In organic cultivation system compost and humic acid solution Humistar were used for fertilization and polypropylene non-woven fabric Agryl P-17 for plant protection. Marketable yield of organic carrots was 8% lower compared to the conventional carrots. Conventional carrots contained pesticide residues and had significantly higher nitrate concentration than organic carrots. The contents of total sugars, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium did not differ significantly between carrots from different cultivation systems. At harvest, dry matter (DM) content of organically grown carrots was significantly higher, whereas vitamin C and ß-carotene content was significantly lower in organically grown carrots. However, after 5-months of storage, the organic carrots had significantly higher total soluble solids (TSS) and β-carotene content compared to the conventional ones indicating that organically grown carrots were less susceptible to storage conditions.