Significant positive influence of CA storage of carrots on delay of quality degradation, in particular, color changes

Carrots of various root colour show increased popularity in Europe, and are used for different purposes, including fresh market and use in processing industry. Most of the produce is subjected to storage for several months, leading to quality degradation of the produce. The influence of CA storage on quality of carrots has not been explained satisfactory, especially for cultivars of different colours. The objective of this 3-year study was to determine the effect of long-term cold storage under different gas composition on some physical and chemical parameters influencing quality and nutritive value of carrots ofdifferent root colours. Carrots of orange colour (?Nebula? F1 ?Perfekcja?, ?Interceptor? F1), purple-orange (?Purple Haze? F1), purple (?Deep Purple? F1), yellow (?Mello Yello? F1) and white (?White Satin? F1) were cold stored (0-1oC and 95% RH) for 6 months under controlled atmosphere (CA) of folowing gas compositions: 5% CO2 + 10% O2, 2% CO2 + 5% O2, 5% CO2 + 5% O2 and 0% CO2 + 21% O2 (ambient atmosphere). Quality parameters of the carrots, including CIE L*a*b* colour parameters of the roots, dry matter, soluble solids, nitrate, sugars, phenolics (with Fiolin-Ciocalteu method), total carotenoid and ?-carotene contents (with spectrophotometric and HPLC methods), antioxidant activity (with DPPH method), were determined directlyafter harvest and after cold storage. Generally, during storage soluble solids, and total sugars content showed a tendency to increase, but total carotenoid, ?-carotene and nitrate content went descending. Results showed a significant positive influence of CA storage of carrots on delay of quality degradation, compared to regular cold store conditions as regards some quality traits. In particular, storage at investigated CA variants resulted in decreasing negative colour changes of the roots, decreasing natural mass losses of the roots and increasing antioxidant activity of the roots of the purple-coloured cultivars.The best results as regards of carrots quality were obtained in the case of CA storage under the gas composition of 5% CO2 + 10% O2. It seems that CA technology could be useful in long-term storage of carrots, especially for purple coloured cultivars, due to significant delay their quality degradation. SourcesThe influence of CA storage on quality traits of carrot cultivars of different root colourM. Gajewski, S. Pawe?, P. MartaWarsaw University of Life Sciences ? SGGW, Department of Vegetable and Medicinal Plants, Nowoursynowska166, 02-787 Warszawa, PolandV Postharvest Unlimited, ISHS International Conference, 10-13 June 2014, Cyprus,http://web.cut.ac.cy/postharvest/ The picture is by talent.paperblog.com ? Key wordsPoscosecha?? ?postcosecha?? ?postharvest?? ?na-oes?? ??? ??? ???????? ????? ??? ?post-r?colte?? ????? ?? ??????????? ??? ?na-oogst?? ?post-raccolta?? ?Obr?bka po?? ?p?s-colheita?? ????????????????? ?hasat sonras??? ??? ?Ernte?? ????????????????? ????? ????????????? ?postcollita?? ?poskliz?ov頠 ????? ??? ??? ??? ?nakon branja?? ?pozberov頠 ??? ?obdelovanje zemlje po?? ?post-colleita?? ?????? ??????? ?pascapanen?? ??il?onn postharvest?? ??????? ?p?c ra?as?? ?derliaus apdirbimas po?? ?lepas tuai?? ??? ?? ???????? ?post-recoltare?? ??????? ??????? ???????????????????? ?????????????? ?????????????????? ?sau thu ho?ch?? ?????????????????? ?zangemva kwenkathi yokuvunaZanahoria?? ??? ?carrot?? ?wortel?? ?????? ??? ????? ?karoto?? ?carotte?? ????????? ??????? ??? ?carota?? ?marchew?? ?cenoura?? ??? ????????? ?havu砠 ??????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ????