COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIOXIDANT PROFILE OF YELLOW, ORANGE AND PURPLE POLIGNANO CARROTS.

In the Puglia region, a multicolor landrace called the yellow-purple Polignano carrot has been cultivated since 1940 by local smallholder farmers and has been added to the Slow Food list of traditional products. Composition analyses of these carrots were carried out including carbohydrate assay, inorganic cations, nitrate content, and dry weight of each colour. Besides, antioxidant activity, β-carotene, total phenols and carotenoid content on the full carrots and on the cortex and inner core separated tissues were determined. The same analyses were performed on a commercial carrot cultivar. On average, total glucose, fructose, and saccharose content was 22% lower in the yellow-purple Polignano carrot than in the commercial one. In addition, the highest contributor to the relative sweetness in the yellow-purple Polignano carrot was fructose (43.5%), which affects its wellknown taste, as well as its glycemic index. As for the nutritional parameters, purple carrots showed the highest content in antioxidant activity, total phenols, carotenoids and β-carotene, mainly detected in the cortex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]