Sensory Quality of Carrots from Organic and Conventional Cultivation

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of the cultivation method (organic and conventional) on the sensory quality of carrot roots - fresh, stored, and cooked. The study was conducted in the sensory evaluation laboratory of the Institute of Horticulture in Skierniewice in 2009-2011. The carrot roots came from a certified experimental field with a stable ecosystem, adapted for conducting experiments on the organic growing of vegetables. At the same time, in the same soil and climatic conditions, carrots were grown in the conventional system. The experimental material consisted of two varieties of carrot - Perfekcja and Regulska. In a two-year cycle, sensory analyses were performed of fresh carrot roots, and of roots that had been stored and heat treated. The evaluations were conducted by a 10-person panel of specialists using the method of quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA). The results of qualitative sensory evaluations and the profilograms prepared on that basis for fresh and stored carrot roots indicated differences in the sensory characteristics between the tested varieties grown in organic and conventional systems. The greatest impact on the overall quality was exerted by the attributes: the carrot-taste, sweet taste, juiciness and hardness of the flesh. Organically grown carrots of the variety Regulska were characterized by the highest intensity of sweet taste and the carrot- taste, and by the best hardness, crunchiness, crispness and juiciness of the flesh. Fresh roots of this variety received the highest overall score. There were also some differences in the sensory characteristics of carrot roots after several months of storage, and then after cooking them, depending on the variety and cultivation method. In both years of the study, following the storage period, the cooked carrot roots of the variety Perfekcja from organic cultivation received the highest scores for overall quality. After storing and subjecting carrot roots to heat treatment, there was a significant decrease in the intensity of most of the quality descriptors, such as taste, smell and texture, when compared with the fresh roots under evaluation