ABSTRACT
KAMLESH PRASAD1*, RAEES-UL HAQ1, VASUDHA BANSAL2, MOHAMMED WASIM SIDDIQUI3, and RIADH ILAHY4
1Department of Food Engineering and Technology, SLIET, Longowal 148106, Punjab, India
2Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), Phase-8, Industrial Area, S.A.S. Nagar, Mohali-160071, Punjab, India
3Department of Food Science and Post-Harvest Technology, Sabour, Bhagalpur 813210, Bihar, India
4Laboratory of Horticulture, National Agricultural Research Institute of Tunisia, Tunis, Rue Hédi Karray 2049 Ariana, Tunisia
*Corresponding author, E-mail address: dr_k_prasad@rediffmail.com
Abstract ................................................................................................. 108 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 109 4.2 Nutrition ....................................................................................... 119 4.3 Therapeutic Value and Colorants of Carrot ................................. 125 4.4 Extraction of Bioactive Components ........................................... 147 4.5 Carrot Products ............................................................................ 163 4.6 Conclusions .................................................................................. 165 Keywords .............................................................................................. 167 References ............................................................................................. 167
ABSTRACT
Fruits and vegetables are the major sources of plant bioactive components required for the proper functioning of body. The carrot consumption has cosmopolitan distribution throughout the globe with temperate regions as the major producers. Carrot is considered as a rich source of fibers, vitamins, minerals, and various secondary metabolites particularly terpenoids and phenolics. Carotenoids are the main class of the terpenoids and available in appreciable quantities. Presence of the carotenoids, a provitamin A, in carrot regard them as the cheap source. Color of the roots is an important characteristic emerging due to presence of the bioactive components associated with red, orange, yellow, and purple colors arising due to lycopene, carotene, lutein, and anthocyanins. The purple carrots have been said to be the phenolics-rich source among the other colored carrot varieties. Consequently, it has the highest antioxidant activities as compared to available other colored roots. The immense health-promoting benefits of the carrot are due to phytonutrients that have significantly increased their use in recent past. The well-known functions of carotenoids and phenolics as natural and potent antioxidants have concentrated their way of study as anticancer agents. The association of polyacetylene compounds and fiber compounds in carrot further contributes to the roots’ functionality toward human health. The ideal storage temperature of the carrots is below the room temperature as higher temperatures decrease shelf life. The perishable nature of the roots has led to the development of new techniques of preservation of different processed form of carrot. The preservation of carrot in the different forms has significantly found to improve the marketability with minimum postharvest losses. The carrot pomace, a leftover after juice extraction in its dried form, have found to be of historical utilization among bakery products. The functionality imparted by the incorporation of different bioactive components of carrot to various processed products has further strengthened their use as a source-value addition. The present chapter is an effort of documenting the nature, composition, nutritional properties, and utilization of the carrots. The present chapter also describes the existence of different colorants, their extraction procedures, and various associated health benefits of carrot.
