EVALUATION OF CARROT VARIETIES FOR PRODUCTION OF DEEP FRIED CARROT CHIPS - IV - THE INFLUENCE OF GROWING ENVIRONMENT ON CARROT RAW-MATERIAL

Four carrot varieties; 'Fontana', 'Merida', 'Newburg' and 'Nandrin' we re grown at six locations in Norway, ranging from 58 degrees 20'N to 6 9 degrees 27'N. Sensory quality, chemical composition and growth param eters were clearly influenced by the growing temperature during June, July, August and September. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed three factors explaining 75% of the total variation. PC1 was a tempera ture related factor grouping the carrot samples according to their gro wing site in direction north to south. The most prominent variables fo r PC1 was root weight, root length, root diameters, sensory colour and flavour variables being characteristic for the southern locations, wh ile whiteness and sickly sweet was characteristic for the northernmost samples. PC2 and 3 explained the genetic variation, mainly determined by the variation in sugar related variables and texture. The influenc e of temperature on various blocks of variables was shown by means of partial least-square (PLS2). The rate of prediction was generally low, but temperature was able to predict 36% of the sensory variables, 21% of the chemical variables and 56% of the physical variables by the fi rst two factors. Temperature predicted 57% of the variation in alpha- and beta-carotene content of the carrots, and 45% of the variation in sensory bitter components. (C) 1998 Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve d.