Carotenoids In Carrots Research Articles

Kinetic modelling of tissue enzymes inactivation and degradation of pigments and polyphenols in cloudy carrot and celery juices under supercritical carbon dioxide

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCD) was applied to inactivate tissue enzymes in carrot and celery juices. The polyphenol oxidases (PPO), peroxidases (POD), pectin esterases (PE) and polygalacturonases (PG) inactivation kinetics were significantly dependent on the SCCD process parameters. Traditional pasteurization (TP) resulted in a higher level of inactivation of all the enzymes tested in celery juice as well as POD and PG in carrot juice, compared to SCCD. The lowest and highest decimal reduction time was noted for PE (200min) and PG (1645min) in celery juice, respectively. The carotenoids in carrot and polyphenols in celery juices were resistant to SCC treatment, whereas the chlorophylls in celery and polyphenols in carrot juices were degraded up to approx. 20 and 45%, respectively. SCCD treatment is a promising technique for obtaining high quality vegetable juices but further studies should be concentrated on additional factors which facilitate the inactivation of tissue enzymes.

Retention of polyacetylenes and carotenoids in carrot during cooking

Retention of polyacetylenes and carotenoids in carrot during cooking

Effect of pulsed electric field processing on carotenoid extractability of carrot purée

SummaryThe purpose of this research was to study the effect of electric field strength (0.1–1 kV cm−1) and frequency (5–75 Hz) during pulsed electric field (PEF) processing on the extractability of carotenoids in carrots, which was examined using different vegetable oils. Increasing electric field strengths up to 1 kV cm−1 at 5 Hz significantly (P < 0.05) increased the extraction of carotenoids from carrot pomace. Increasing frequency above 10 Hz at 1 kV cm−1 did not improve the carotenoids extraction. The yield of carotenoids extracted was dependent on the vegetable oils. Sunflower and soya bean oils had the highest carotenoid extractability, and peanut oil was the lowest for carrot pomace treated at 0.6 kV cm−1 and 5 Hz, but no significant difference was observed among vegetable oils for carrot pomace treated at 50 Hz. This study suggests that PEF can improve the carotenoids extractability of carrots depending on the electric field strength and frequency used.

Transcript Abundance of Phytoene Synthase 1 and Phytoene Synthase 2 Is Associated with Natural Variation of Storage Root Carotenoid Pigmentation in Carrot

Carotenoids are isoprenoid compounds synthesized in plants that serve as photoprotectants essential for photosynthesis and provide plant tissues with red, orange, and yellow pigmentation. These compounds are important in human health, because they serve as both vitamin A precursors as well as having antioxidant properties. Carrot (Daucus carota ssp. sativus) provides an important source of carotenoids in the human diet, providing up to 30% of provitamin A in the United States. Although essential to human health, very little is currently understood about the accumulation of carotenoids in carrot. To better understand the molecular mechanism for carotenoid accumulation in carrot, we used reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to evaluate the expression of nine genes in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in storage root tissue. No significant difference was found among white, yellow, orange, and dark orange carrot roots in seven of the nine genes evaluated. However, increased phytoene synthase 1 (PSY1) and phytoene synthase 2 (PSY2) expression was observed in orange and dark orange carrot roots compared with yellow and white carrots. Increased PSY1 and PSY2 expression was not observed in the leaf tissue of these genotypes, indicating a different mechanism for carotenoid accumulation in the leaf tissue of carrot. This study is the first to demonstrate that naturally occurring mutations that dramatically increase carotenoid accumulation in orange carrot are associated with increased PSY1 and PSY2 expression and it provides insights into the mechanism underlying the biosynthesis of these important photoprotectants and nutrients.

Biosynthesis of carotenoids in carrot: An underground story comes to light

Carrot (Daucus carota) is a biannual plant that accumulates massive amounts of carotenoid pigments in the storage root. Although the root of carrot plants was white before domestication, intensive breeding generated the currently known carotenoid-rich varieties, including the widely popular orange carrots that accumulate very high levels of the pro-vitamin A carotenoids β-carotene and, to a lower extent, α-carotene. Recent studies have shown that the developmental program responsible for the accumulation of these health-promoting carotenes in underground roots can be completely altered when roots are exposed to light. Illuminated root sections do not enlarge as much as dark-grown roots, and they contain chloroplasts with high levels of lutein instead of the β-carotene-rich chromoplasts found in underground roots. Analysis of carotenoid gene expression in roots either exposed or not to light has contributed to better understand the contribution of developmental and environmental cues to the root carotenoid profile. In this review, we summarize the main conclusions of this work in the context of our current knowledge of how carotenoid biosynthesis and accumulation is regulated at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels in carrot roots and other model systems for the study of plant carotenogenesis such as Arabidopsis de-etiolation and tomato fruit ripening.

Effects of organic and conventional growth systems on the content of carotenoids in carrot roots, and on intake and plasma status of carotenoids in humans

The demand for organic food products has increased during the last decades due to their probable health effects, among others. A higher content of secondary metabolites such as carotenoids in organic food products has been claimed, though not documented, to contribute to increased health effects of organic foods. The aim was to study the impact of organic and conventional agricultural systems on the content of carotenoids in carrots and human diets. In addition, a human cross-over study was performed, measuring the plasma status of carotenoids in humans consuming diets made from crops from these agricultural systems. The content of carotenoids in carrot roots and human diets was not significantly affected by the agricultural production system or year, despite differences in fertilisation strategy and levels. The plasma status of carotenoids increased significantly after consumption of the organic and conventional diets, but no systematic differences between the agricultural production systems were observed. The expected higher content of presumed health-promoting carotenoids in organic food products was not documented in this study.

Changes in contents of polyacetylenes and carotenoids in carrots kept at different temperatures after harvest

Changes in contents of polyacetylenes and carotenoids in carrots kept at different temperatures after harvest

Nutritional, Physical, and Sensory Evaluation of Hydroponic Carrots (Daucus carota L.) from Different Nutrient Delivery Systems

Carrot (Daucus carota L.) has the highest carotenoid content among foods and is consumed in large quantities worldwide, while at the same time its market demand continues to increase. Carotenoids have also been associated with protective effects against cancer and other chronic diseases. The most predominant carotenoids in carrots are beta- and alpha-carotenes. Moisture, ash, fat, texture, color, carotene content, and consumer acceptance of carrots grown in a hydroponic system with nutrient film technique (NFT) and microporous tube membrane system (MTMS) were evaluated. The moisture contents of the NFT- and MTMS-grown carrots ranged from 86.8 +/- 0.13% to 92.2 +/- 2.25% and 80.9 +/- 0.31% to 91.6 +/- 1.01%, respectively. Fat and ash contents of the carrots were negligible. NFT-grown Oxheart had the most beta-carotene (9900 +/- 20 microg/100 g) while Juwaroot had the least (248 +/- 10 microg/100 g). However, the beta-carotene content of Juwaroot from the NFT batch II carrots was 3842 +/- 6 microg/100 g. MTMS-grown carrots had less variation in the total beta-carotene contents (2434 +/- 89 to 10488 +/- 8 microg/100 g) than those from NFT. Overall, Nantes Touchan (4.8 +/- 2.3) and Nevis-F (7 +/- 1.4) from NFT were the least and most preferred by consumers. Mignon was also acceptable to consumers, and significantly (P < 0.05) more preferred than the other carrots in that NFT batch. MTMS-grown Kinko and Paramex, which were significantly (P < 0.05) more preferred than Nandrin-F and the commercial field-grown carrot, were equally liked by consumers. Nevis-F, Mignon (NFT), Paramex, and Kinko (MTMS) are potentially good cultivars to be included in NASA's food system.

Nutraceuticals as natural healers: Emerging evidences

Various components of foods have clearly established strong links with human health and it is learnt that their deficiencies provoke diseases. The epidemiological evidences and modern research in nutrition during the last few decades have elaborated the molecular level of such interactions of specific food constituents with that of the toxicants generated in the living cells to control and prevent many of the diseases. Edible products possessing such fantastic healing capacity due to the presence of more than 700 non nutrients functional food factor (FFFs) are effective and epochal for health promotion, disease prevention and cure. The natural products releasing such superb active components are known as nutraceutical foods. The bioactive constituents of many foods have been identified during the goal oriented scientific studies and are used frequently in community and clinical nutrition. The protective effects of tocotrienols in flax seed oil, the curcuminoids in turmeric, carotenoids in carrots, flavonoids in fruits/vegetables, omega-3 fatty acids in sea foods, allyl-sulfides in garlic and
-glucans in mush-rooms/cereals are few common examples to be cited here. Excess saturated fat is attributed to pose adverse effects on many metabolic processes. However, certain components of fats are now postulated for their clinical manifestations, such as the sphingolipids as inhibitors of carcinogenesis, conjugated linolenic acid (CLA) as immunomodulator, and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) for control of lipid profile. The nuts, although rich in fat are influential in cholesterol lowering in view of their suitable polyunsaturated fatty acid: saturated fatty acid ratio and excess of the presence of MUFAs. Recent emphasis on fat-replacements to introduce low caloric foods, advances in nutritional immunology, stimulating actions of phytochemicals on neuronal diseases have indicated wide spectrum of applications of functional foods both in daily life and in the industry. Some examples of nutraceutical foods, their chemical diversity and mode of actions are part of presentation which is based on consulting several review articles published since 2005.

Approach for non-destructive pigment analysis in model liquids and carrots by means of time-of-flight and multi-wavelength remittance readings

Non-destructive spectroscopy in the visible and near infrared wavelength range has been introduced for analyzing absorbing compounds in fruit and vegetables. A drawback of the method appears due to the measuring principle, where photons detected in the diffusive tissue are influenced by the sample absorption but also scattering properties leading to variation in the photon pathlength. In the present work, distribution of time-of-flight reading was used to calculate the effective pathlength between source and detector. Using this information in addition to the spectral intensities obtained with common continuous wave spectroscopy, Lambert–Beer law was applied for analyzing absolute pigment contents. The method was tested for liquid phantoms mimicking the optical properties of fresh fruit and vegetables. Lambert–Beer law using a constant pathlength as well as combined application of the intensity at a specific wavelength and the effective pathlength resulted in low calibration errors with r 2 > 0.98. Applying the two calibrations on phantoms mimicking changes in the scattering properties resulted in validation results of r 2 = 0.47 and 0.64, respectively. Improved results by using the effective pathlength were confirmed on real-world samples. The carrot carotenoids analysis resulted in validation results of r 2 = 0.66 and 0.74, respectively, while the measuring uncertainty was reduced from 18.10 to 9.62%. Multivariate calibrations using the entire carrot spectra and data pre-processing aiming the reduction of scattering effects resulted in slightly lower measuring uncertainty by comparison. In the sensor fusion approach proposed, however, no expensive spectrophotometer is required and the phenomenon of varying optical properties of the sample is characterized.

Heritabilities and Minimum Gene Number Estimates of Carrot Carotenoids

Broad sense heritabilities and gene numbers were estimated for the production of total carotenoids and the major component carotenoids of carrot storage roots: phytoene, ζ-carotene, β-carotene, α-carotene, and lycopene. Two crosses with different backgrounds were evaluated: orange B493 × white QAL and orange Brasilia × dark orange HCM. The HCM (high carotene mass selection), Brasilia and B493 parents had both α-carotene and β-carotene, but HCM had proportionally more α-carotene. Carotene content in F 2 populations ranged from 522 ppm to 1714 ppm in Brasilia × HCM and from 0 to 695 ppm in B493 × QAL progeny. F 2 plants segregating for absence of α-carotene were identified in B493 × QAL. Broad-sense heritabilities ranged from 28% to 48% for all carotenes except lycopene and phytoene where estimates were 44% to 89% in the Brasilia × HCM cross, All heritability values exceeded 88% for the B493 × QAL cross, except one estimate for lycopene. The estimated number of genes was 4 conditioning α-carotene, 2 to 3 each for β-carotene and total carotenes and one each for ζ-carotene, lycopene and phytoene in the orange × dark orange cross. In the orange × white cross, the estimates were 4 genes for α-carotene, 1 to 2 each for lycopene and total carotenes and 1 for each of the other carotenes. These results are in general agreement with QTL studies and they provided evidence for continuous inheritance of α-carotene, β-carotene and total carotenoids in the orange × dark orange cross and discrete inheritance for β-carotene and total carotenoids in the orange × white cross.

Relationship of Carotenoids and Tocopherols in a Sample of Carrot Root-Color Accessions and Carrot Germplasm Carrying Rp and rp Alleles

Carotenoids and tocopherols are powerful antioxidants synthesized in plants from a common precursor. They may offer significant health benefits to humans. Seed oils have been shown to possess high levels of tocopherols, but little is known about their levels in the edible portions of most vegetable crops. A two-year field experiment was conducted at two locations to assess levels of major carotenoids and tocopherols in carrot (Daucus carota) root and leaf tissue. Levels of compounds in root tissue reported on a dry weight basis were as follows: alpha-tocopherol, 0.04-0.18 ppm; lycopene, 0.00-52.94 ppm; alpha-carotene, 10.63-1504.76 ppm; and beta-carotene, 26.69-1673.76 ppm. Higher levels of all carotenoids were measured in phloem tissue than in xylem. Leaf tissue levels of tocopherols measured on a dry weight basis ranged from 0.02 to 0.85 ppm, whereas levels of carotenoids ranged from 12.81 to 411.66 ppm. In xylem tissue, alpha-tocopherol was significantly (P < or =0.001) positively correlated with alpha-carotene (r = 0.65) and with beta-carotene (r = 0.52). This positive correlation indicates it may be possible to select for both increased alpha-tocopherol and carotenoids in carrot. The reduced pigment (rp) mutation of carrot exhibited a 96% reduction in levels of alpha- and beta-carotene and a 25-43% reduction in alpha-tocopherol when compared to a near-isogenic line. In plants homozygous for rp, a substantial increase was observed in phytoene, a precursor to carotenoids, suggesting the location of the rp lesion in the carotenoid synthesis pathway.

Effect of hydrothermal processing on carrot carotenoids changes and interactions with dietary fiber.

The aim of the studies was to determine the effect of different methods of heat treatment on carotenoids changes and their interactions with insoluble and soluble dietary fiber. Three industrial varieties of carrot--Simba, Caropak and Fayette constituted the experimental material. Carrot cubes were subjected to heat treatment by putting in water with or without citric acid, or in a convection-type steam furnace. The total content of alpha- and beta-carotene was determined in all kinds of pureed carrots. Its amount bounded with insoluble dietary fiber and pectins was also determined. Changes in soluble and insoluble fractions of dietary fiber during hydrothermal treatment were also determined. It was found that the content of trans alpha- and beta-carotene in carrots decreased significantly (p < 0.05) after heat treatment, compared with the control sample. The loss observed during heat treatment in water was higher (up to 50%) than in the case of a convection-type steam furnace. The highest decrease in the content of insoluble fraction of dietary fiber and the highest increase in soluble fraction were observed after treatment with the use of steam. An analysis of interactions between carotenoids and dietary fiber fractions after hydrothermal processing shows their stronger affinity to forming bonds with pectins than with insoluble fiber. It was also found that the effect of heat treatment parameters was significant--the highest (by six times) increase in the content of beta-carotene bounded with pectins was noted in pureed carrots processed in a convection-type steam furnace.

Carotenoid retention and vitamin A value in carrot ( Daucus carota L.) prepared by food service

The objective of this work was to study the influence of different methods of food preparation routinely used by catering and food services (in large quantities) on the stability of α-carotene, β-carotene and total carotenoids in carrots. Also, the values of vitamin A were evaluated. The methods of preparation studied were: raw shredded, steam cooking, water cooking with pressure, water cooking without pressure and moist/dry cooking. The quantification of α and β-carotenes was carried out by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), using a reverse phase column (RP-18) with methanol: acetonitrile: ethyl acetate (80:10:10) as the mobile phase and a UV-Visible detector. Total carotenoids were quantified spectrophotometrically at 449 nm. The results showed a retention ranging from 56.0 to 89.1% for the carotenoids, with the moist/dry cooking causing the greatest losses in α and β-carotene. Considering the type of utensils used, the time and temperature, it was concluded that water cooking without pressure was best for reducing losses of carotenoids in carrots prepared by food service. Despite considerable losses in vitamin A value, carrots subjected to routine preparation methods by catering and food services remain a rich source of provitamin A. The methodology developed in this study is now being applied to carotenoid analysis in other vegetables prepared in large quantities.

Evaluation and validation of an LC method for the analysis of carotenoids in vegetables and fruit

In many epidemiologic studies, an increased intake of fruits and vegetables was associated with a reduced risk of various cancers. Research on possible anticarcinogenic compounds is often focussed on carotenoids. We elaborated a method for the determination of lutein, zeaxanthin, α-carotene, β-carotene, lycopene and β-cryptoxanthin in fruit and vegetables. After extraction, carotenoids were dissolved and a fraction was injected onto the LC-system and chromatographed isocratically on a Vydac polymer C 18 column. The mobile phase was a mixture of methanol and THF (95/5 v v ). Carotenoids were detected at 450 nm using a diode array detector. The separation between the individual carotenoids was satisfactory and the interference of other compounds small. Low recoveries (60%) for lycopene were found due to presence of hastalloy frits in LC system. Problems were solved by changing them for PAT (Peek Alloyed with Teflon) frits. Values for repeatability relative standard deviation (RSD r) of carotenoids in carrot, spinach, tomato, corn and tangerine ranged from 1.9–4.9%. The mean standard recoveries for carotenoids in tomato and tangerine ranged from 93–107%. With this procedure, carotenoids may be determined in fruits and vegetables under routine conditions, yielding reliable and reproducible results.

Inheritance and Biochemical Analysis of a Carrot Carotenoid Mutant

Pigments in orange carrot tissue, such alpha and beta carotene, are important vitamins in the human diet. Previously identified white or nonpigmented carrot roots, such as those from wild carrot and white derivatives of yellow or orange types, are dominant to the production of pigment, which is recessive. A nonpigmented carrot root was discovered during routine propagation of the inbred line W266 in 1992. Subsequent segregation analysis in the F2 and BC1 generations in three genetic backgrounds demonstrated the lack of pigmentation is due to a single recessive gene (reduced-pigment: rp). Total carotenoid content was reduced 92% in the roots of rprp genotypes compared to RPRP genotypes, however there were no differences in carotenoid content in leaves. Plants carrying rprp also exhibit white-speckled leaves during early stages of development, suggesting rp has an effect on leaf chlorophyll content. This character may prove useful in dissecting the complex inheritance of carotenoids in carrot.

A study of the biological utilization of carotenoids of carrot and swamp cabbage in rats

The biological utilization of carotenoids is related to their provitamin A activity and the efficiency of their absorption and conversion to retinol and also their function as antioxidants. For practical purposes, various authorities have taken the efficiency of conversion of β-carotene to retinol to be in the ratio of 6:1, and that of other provitamin A carotenoids as 12:1. This paper presents results of a study carried out to determine the bioavailability of carotenoids present in two carotenoid-rich vegetables (namely carrot and swamp cabbage, kangkong) and aims to provide further information on the nutritional value of these important sources of provitamin A compounds. The growth and the levels of retinol and carotenoids in the liver and serum of rats provided with these carotenoids in the daily diet were monitored. These results were compared with the biological utilization of crystalline retinol and β-carotene concentrates. Two different experimental procedures were adopted for the study, namely supplementation and depletion-repletion procedures using the rat as the test animal. Both procedures showed that the bioavailability of the major carotenoids in carrot (α- and β-carotene) and kangkong (β-carotene) was high, as evidenced by the accumulation of retinol in the liver of the experimental rats, in relation to crystalline retinol concentrate. The provitamin A activity of α- and β-carotenes in the vegetables approximates the commonly used factors of 1 12 and 1 6 that of retinol, respectively. Either one of the experimental procedures may be used for the study of bioavailability of carotenoids in plant sources. The supplementation procedure, however, takes a shorter time to carry out and could be advantageous. The 4-week supplementation period was quite sufficient to obtain clearly observable differences. To further reduce time and cost of analysis, a 2-week supplementation would suffice, and liver retinol and carotenoid concentrations could be determined before and after supplementation. Such studies on the bioavailability of carotenoids should be extended to human subjects.

Decapreno-β-carotene as an internal standard for the quantification of the hydrocarbon carotenoids by high-performance liquid chromatography

The application of decapreno-β-carotene as an internal standard in quantification of the hydrocarbon carotenoids extracted from raw carrots has been thoroughly examined. Decapreno-β-carotene is a C 50 β-carotene that has most of the requirements of an internal standard and it can be commercially synthesized in high purity. An isocratic high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) system has been developed that separated all- trans-α-carotene, all- trans-β-carotene, and its l5,l5′- cis-isomer from this internal standard. Quantitative determination of the hydrocarbon carotenoids in carrots by HPLC using the internal standard technique gave values for α- and β-carotene similar to those obtained from α- and β-carotene standards alone.

Separation of carrot carotenoids on hyflo Super-Cel-magnesium oxide-calcium sulfate thin layers

A Hyflo Super-Cel-magnesium oxide-calcium sulfate (8:2:0.7, w/w/w) thin-layer chromatographic adsorbent was used for the separation of carotenoid pigments of fresh and dehydrated carrots. All carrot carotenoids were separated satisfactorily in one development on thin layers treated with water, and good pigment recoveries were achieved. The adsorbent was found to be sufficiently mild for use with carotenoid pigments, and has high resolving power for separation of the non-polar carotenes. The adsorbent containing 75% Hyflo Super-Cel is cheap and gives durable layers which are easy to handle.

The influence of environment and maturity on total carotenoids in carrots

1. A study has been made of the effect of conditions of growing and of maturity on the concentration of total carotenoids (t.c.) in the root of the carrot, Daucus carota L.2. Carotene comprised nearly 90% of the total carotenoids in all categories of carrot roots except the very small seedlings. Hence t.c. concentration may be used as an index of carotene concentration.3. In order to develop their full t.c. concentration by autumn, carrot varieties with normal t.c. values must be sown before the end of May. High-carotene varieties must be sown at least a month earlier. ‘Stecklings’ grown from summer-sown seeds and examined in spring had only about a third of their fully mature t.c. value.