Eating quality of raw carrots––correlations between flavour compounds, sensory profiling analysis and consumer liking test

Abstract

Sensory profiling, analysis of aroma, sugar and dry matter, as well as consumer liking test were used to characterise the quality of six carrot cultivars, grown at two locations in Denmark. The carrot samples were examined at harvest, and after three months of cold storage. Carrot cultivar had an effect on most sensory and flavour compound variables, due particularly to the influence of one cultivar; and also location influenced carrot quality. Storage of carrots was characterised by an increase of a range of aroma components, but the changes in flavour compounds were not correspondingly observed by the sensory analysis. By Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) two thirds of the flavour compound variables was found to correlate significantly with one or more of the nine sensory attributes; and all of the sensory attributes were significantly correlated with one or more of the consumer liking test variables bitterness, sweetness and liking.