Characterisation of carrots of various root colour
2010
Baranski, R. | Maksylewicz-Kaul, A. | Kaminska, I. | Leja, M. | Schulz-Witte, J. | Schulz, Hartwig | Nothnagel, Thomas | Carle, R.
Carrot (Daucus carota L.) is one of the main vegetables grown world-wide with orange roots occurring in Europe and purple, red, yellow and white in other world regions. Eight accessions were characterized with regard to their morphological traits, root yield and root chemical composition. The most significant differences were observed in root colour, and colour homogeneity in flesh and core. The accessions differed in the proportion of marketable yield in total yield due to their different susceptibility to diseases, and the tendency to development of forked roots. Some populations produced bolters in the first year of cultivation, which additionally limited the number of marketable roots. Great variation was observed with regard to alpha- and beta-carotene as well as lutein content. Purple roots contained more lutein, and yellow roots had higher proportion of lutein to beta-carotene than roots of orange cultivars. Purple roots of carrot were particularly rich in phenolic compounds including anthocyanins, which corresponded with high antioxidant activity of root tissue extracts. The obtained results show valuable traits of coloured carrots, which are novel to European market, but also indicate on the need for the improvement of several characteristics of this crop before commercialization.
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