Other measures to improve quality
- Harvest carrots at optimum maturity. Carrots are more susceptible to decay and rots when over-mature.
- In hot weather, harvest during cool times of the day. Harvesting early in the morning will reduce both dehydration and the time taken for carrots to cool down. High temperatures accelerate the rate at which disease-causing fungi and bacteria grow.
- Harvesting into clean bins and trailers will minimise the spread of disease.
- Minimise drop height. Excessive drop heights lead to more bruising, splitting and breakage. Adjust machinery in the field and on the packing line to lower drop height. Carrots dropped at the beginning of the packing line should have padding to eliminate bruises, cracks and abrasions that serve as entry points for decay-causing fungi and bacteria.
- Transport carrots carefully — avoid excessive bouncing and shaking in trailers to reduce bruising and splitting. In hot weather, cover the carrots with a tarpaulin during transport.
- Never keep harvested carrots in the sun. Shading will reduce dehydration. Heated carrots lose quality and dehydrate more quickly.
- Pack and cool-store carrots immediately after washing.
Keeping quality
Storage life depends on storage temperature and humidity:
- At 20°C and 60 to 70% relative humidity, carrots will keep for 2 to 3 days.
- At 4°C and 80 to 90% relative humidity, carrots will keep for 1 to 2 months.
- At 0°C and 90 to 95% relative humidity, carrots will keep for up to 6 months.
- The ideal conditions for best keeping quality are pre-cooling and storage at 0°C and 95 to 100% relative humidity.
- The recommended temperature for storage is 0 to 2°C.
Acknowledgments
Recommendations are results of research and information compiled by DAFWA. Authors of this article are Allan McKay and Soonchye Tan.
Disclaimer
This material is written for Western Australian conditions.