Processing yield of the carrot cultivar Esplanada as affected by harvest time and planting density

摘要

Cenouretep is a minimally processed carrot root similar to the American product known as 'baby-carrot'. This product is obtained through peeling and abrasion of cylindrical carrot root segments. The cultivar Esplanada is well suited for the production of Cenouretep due to its characteristics of long length and cylindrical root shape as well as uniform dark orange root colour. For Cenouretep production, the root should be less than 25mm in diameter. However, it is well known that root size is influenced by planting density and harvest time. Therefore, the adjustment of the cultural practices would be necessary to increase root yield aimed for Cenouretep processing. The recovery of Cenouretep from 'Esplanada' was studied under two between-line spacings: 20cm (5 transversal lines/m) and 12.5cm (8 transversal lines/m). Roots were harvested at 80, 90, 100 and 110 days after sowing. Cenouretep yield ranged from 2.39pl0.37 to 10.75pl1.07t/ha depending on the combination of harvesting date and between-line spacing. These values corresponded, respectively, to a percent Cenouretep yield recovery of 3.3pl0.7%-28.6pl2.8% in relation to the total root production. It was concluded that higher yield is obtained with 12.5cm between-line spacing than with 20cm between-line spacing and with earlier harvest (80-90 days) than with late harvest (100-110 days).