Retention of ß-carotene in frozen carrots under varying conditions of temperature and time of storage

Abstract

Carrots were blanched and stored in a freezer to study the retention of β-carotene. Retention was found to be better in 3 min blanched samples than in 5 min ones. There was an increase in β-carotene content in carrots after 5 days at all storage temperatures: 0, –8, –14, and –18^oC. Decrease was found to be insignificant compared to the initial value even after 80 days of storage time at –18^oC and for 3 min blanch time.

Key Words: Carrots, β-carotene, blanching, freezing, activation energy, storage time.

African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.4(1) 2005: 102-103