Physico-thermal properties of freshly cut carrots

Investigations were carried out to study the effect of shape, variety and compaction load on the physical and thermal properties of fresh cut carrots. Two commercially grown carrots cv Selection-21 (red) and Nantes (orange) were selected for the study. Carrots were washed, sorted, trimmed, hand peeled. The peeled carrots were cut into 3 shapes viz. triangular, round and cuboid, commonly used for salad and vegetable cooking. Carrots were also subjected to compaction load of 0, 2 and 5 kg for 24 hours to study its effect on thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity. It was observed that average dimensions, bulk density, true density and porosity of orange variety was higher than red. Thermal conductivity and specific heat of red variety was higher than orange. However, opposite trend was observed in thermal diffusivity. Bulk density and thermal diffusivity was lowest in round shape carrots; true density in round and specific heat in triangular shape. Porosity and thermal conductivity has no agreement on effect of shape in both the varieties. The thermal conductivity and specific heat decreased with the increase in compaction load.