Effects of processing conditions on soluble sugars content of carrot, beetroot and turnip

The effect of processing conditions on the soluble sugars fraction of three vegetables, carrot, beetroot and turnip, was evaluated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and by a colorimetric method using potassium ferricyanide. Processing was performed at 121°C during 15 min and three different lots of each vegetable were studied. To verify whether the behaviour was homogeneous, each lot was processed three times, consecutively, under the same conditions. Results were statistically evaluated by two-way ANOVA to elucidate the effects of processing on each vegetable. A significant reduction was observed of soluble sugars, fructose, glucose and sucrose, in the processed samples. A high correlation was observed between the results of total sugars obtained by HPLC and by the colorimetric method.