Effects of coating on the acceptability of baby-carrots

Carrots of the variety Indiana-F1 were processed in the premises of 'Mr. Rabbit Farm Ltd' and divided in two lots. where one followed the normal flow of processing for the industry and to the other a coating stage was added, using an aqueous 2% solution of polypeptides. The two lots were stored in upright racks, using two temperatures, 5 degrees C and 10 degrees C, for subsequent sensorial evaluation. The acceptability tests of the 4 samples of baby-carrots were conducted after 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21 and 25 days of storage. Each time, from 100 to 125 consumers evaluated the baby-carrots using a 9 point hedonic scale. The evaluations were accomplished in three existing supemarkets in Vicosa. After one day of storage, the spacial separation of the samples suggested the existence of three groups, one formed by samples of baby-carrots without coating at 5 degrees C and coated at 10 degrees C, and the other two comprised baby-carrots coated at 5 degrees C and not coated at 10 degrees C. The consumers' distribution demonstrated that the acceptance was quite homogeneous, indicating there was no definite preference of the consumers for any specific sample. On the 5th to the 25th day, the spacial separation of the samples suggested there were two different groups with relation to their acceptability, one for samples of coated baby-carrots and the other for non-coated, independently of storage temperature. The group formed by samples of coated baby-carrots showed better acceptance to a larger number of consumers. The results indicated the efficiency of the coating in the maintenance of the characteristic colour of the carrot.29359159