A proposed mechanism of white discoloration development on peeled carrots included both physical and physiological responses to wounding. The physical response is a color change due to reversible surface dehydration. This study was performed at 2.5 and 10°C using a mode1 system controlling relative humidity, at 33, 75 or 98%, and a commercial system with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic ...

Food products containing carrots were analyzed for benzene contamination using headspace gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection. Of 82 commercial samples, 88% contained benzene above the detection limit of 0.04 μg/kg. Canned and jarred carrots contained 0.2 μg/kg of benzene on average. Higher levels were found in jarred baby foods containing carrots (0.9 μg/kg on average). The hig...

Background: Lutein is a hydroxy-carotenoid constituting the macular pigment of the human retina. Increasing lutein intake from foods could increase the density of this pigment and decrease the risk of developing macular degeneration. Yellow carrots are a novel food source that could increase lutein consumption. Objective: We evaluated and compared lutein uptake and clearance in humans from gene...

Previously, we found that phenolic content and antioxidant capacity (AOX) in carrots increased with wounding intensity. It was also reported that UV radiation may trigger the phenylpropanoid metabolism in plant tissues. Here, we determined the combined effect of wounding intensity and UV radiation on phenolic compounds, AOX, and the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity of carrots. Accordi...

Internal necrosis of carrot has been observed in UK carrots for at least 10 years, and has been anecdotally linked to virus infection. In the 2009 growing season some growers had up to 10% of yield with these symptoms. Traditional diagnostic methods are targeted towards specific pathogens. By using a metagenomic approach with high throughput sequencing technology, other, as yet unidentified cau...

Problem statement: Bioconversion efficiency of β-Carotene (BC) in vitamin A is strongly influenced by food matrix. This efficiency has been determined mainly in typical BC sources like carrots. BC content in mango fruit is considerably high however; the bioconversion efficiency of BC from fresh mango in vitamin A has not been determined nor compared with those of typical BC sources. Approach: V...

A strategy to reduce the incidence of vitamin A deficiency is to improve precursor bioavailability from meals. Since vitamin A precursors are fat-soluble, we noted that carotenoids are more easily absorbed from food if prepared in such a way that the food matrix containing provitamin A (β-carotene) is sufficiently fat rich. To quantify this effect, we have developed a stable isotope methodology...

The psyllid Trioza apicalis Förster (Hemiptera: Triozidae) is a serious pest of carrots, Daucus carota L., in Europe. Carrots exhibiting symptoms of psyllid damage were observed in commercial fields in southern Finland in 2008. Symptoms in affected plants included leaf curling, yellow and purple discoloration of leaves, stunted growth of shoots and roots, and proliferation of secondary roots. M...