Variation in sugar content and composition of carrot storage roots at harvest and during storage

Abstract

Changes in the soluble sugar content of carrot storage roots (cvs. Fontana and Panther) at harvest and during storage were studied at an experimental site and on vegetable farms in three successive years. The later the harvest, the higher the content of soluble sugars, especially sucrose, tended to be, but on farms in 1996, there was a clear decline in dry matter and sugar content due to frost injury in field experiments. Even in uninjured carrot stands, changes in sugar content and composition did not coincide with a cessation of yield increase or changes in storability. Total sugar and sucrose contents at the beginning of the harvest period were higher in the colder year, 1996, than in the warmer years, 1995 and 1997. Despite some differences from earlier studies, the compositional changes observed here during storage followed the general pattern of increasing hexose and decreasing sucrose contents. Frost injury, however, resulted in post-harvest changes in sugars which were different from earlier results.