Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of pre- treatments, packaging and cold storage on shelf life of minimally processed carrots. Carrots were prepared by manual peeling, cutting, slicing and shredding and pre -treated in 1% citric acid, ascorbic acid, potassium meta bisulphite, egg albumin and 0.5% potassium sorbate solutions for 30 sec. prior to packaging. Pre-treated carrot pieces were surface dried in atmospheric air andpacked with a proportion of gases (5% oxygen, 15% carbon dioxide and 80% nitrogen) stored at 10°C. During storage, the chemical constituents and shelflife were analyzed. The results indicated that the whole peeled carrot without any pre - treatment had exhibited changes in the chemical constituents compared to other minimally processed carrots up to 45 days at 10°C.

Keywords: Minimal Processing, Carrot, Quality