Vol. 9, Issue 1, Part I (2025)

Carrots (Daucus carota L.) are a highly nutritious root vegetable widely consumed for its health benefits, vibrant color, and versatility in culinary applications. Being rich in carotenoids, vitamin A, dietary fibre, and antioxidants, carrots contribute significantly to a balanced diet. However, fresh carrots are susceptible to spoilage due to high moisture content. In order to extend shelf life and provide ease of convenience, experiment was planned to explore combo-processing techniques, specifically osmo-convective dehydration, on pink and orange carrot shreds. The carrot shreds were subjected to pre-treatment of steam blanching before osmotic and convective dehydration. Quality attributes such as solid gain, water loss, texture, colour retention, and sensory evaluation of osmo-convectively dried shreds of both pink and orange carrot were determined. The mass transfer parameter (water loss and solid gain) was higher in the pink carrot (27.49, 38.93) than in the orange carrot (23.80, 36.75). The colour value a* was more for pink carrot shreds while orange carrot exhibited higher colour value b*. Osmo-convectively dehydrated shreds of orange carrots showed soft texture than that of pink carrot. The overall acceptability of osmo-convectively dehydrated carrot shreds prepared from pink carrot without xylem was similar to that of orange carrot.