EVALUATION OF CARROT VARIETIES FOR PRODUCTION OF DEEP FRIED CARROT CHIPS .3. CAROTENOIDS

Carotene contents of four carrot (Daucus carota L.) varieties, grown a t six latitudes in Norway, demonstrated that carrots grown at two loca tions far south had the highest carotene contents, while no effect of variety was seen. Carotene contents of carrot chips correlated signifi cantly with those of raw carrots and averaged 88% of initial amount, a bout 20% being identified as 9-cis beta-carotene. The carotenes corres ponded to 4140 retinol equivalents (RE) per 100 g chips, demonstrating carrot chips as a good source of carotenes. For raw carrots, CIE (197 6) L, a* and Hue degrees values correlated significantly with caroten e content, while for chips, a, b* and Hue degrees values correlated w ith carotene content. (C) 1997 Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.