## 3 Results and Discussion
### Health-Related Quality
Also, it is interesting to point out the results on TCC obtained from ABA treatment. From Table 1, although ABA treatment values decreased significantly (\(p<0.05\)) with respect to those measured in fresh-untreated samples on day 21, the contents were still significantly (\(p<0.05\)) higher than those on day 0 (2.15 mg of EBC g\({}^{-1}\) DW in ABA-treated carrots vs. 1.41 mg of EBC g\({}^{-1}\) DW in carrots on day 0). The potential of ABA as a phytoregulatory is also supported by the fact that the organoletic characteristics of ABA-treated carrots after storage were still adequate from a commercial standpoint. A comparison of the results found here with bibliographic data on conventional orange carrots indicates that ABA treatment provides steadier carotenoid levels than other preservation methods such as freezing and refrigeration, which cause the significant loss of carotenoids [39; 40; 41]. In contrast, dehydration and canning have been demonstrated to have minimal effects on carotenoid levels, despite their adverse effects on physicochemical quality [40]. As far as anthocyanins are concerned, since no studies on dark-colored carrots similar to the one performed here have been reported so far, no bibliographic contrast could be accomplished. However, there is evidence that any processing in an aqueous medium causes the loss of water-soluble components such as anthocyanins. Therefore, freezing, canning and all drying processes including previous freezing would also bring about anthocyanin losses. Table 2 represents the HPLC-DAD analysis of carotenoids in fresh-untreated (on day 0 and day 21) and treated (with MJ and ABA) purple carrot samples. Data are expressed as mg EBC g\({}^{-1}\) DW (\(n=3\)) \(\pm\) SD. Different letters between purple carrot samples indicate \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Fresh-Untreated**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**MJ Treatment**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**AA Treatment**} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **On Day 0** & **On Day 21** & **Control** & **Treated** & **Control** & **Treated** \\ \hline TCC & & & & & & \\ (mg EBC g\({}^{-1}\) DW) & 1.41 \(\pm\) 0.03 a & 3.79 \(\pm\) 0.05 b & 1.59 \(\pm\) 0.02 a & 1.61 \(\pm\) 0.03 a & 2.06 \(\pm\) 0.04 c & 2.15 \(\pm\) 0.03 c \\ \hline TAC & & & & & & \\ (mg ECGg\({}^{-1}\) DW) & 2.23 \(\pm\) 0.05 a & 2.18 \(\pm\) 0.04 a & 0.43 \(\pm\) 0.02 b & 0.37 \(\pm\) 0.01 b & 0.26 \(\pm\) 0.01 b & 0.30 \(\pm\) 0.02 b \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Different letters between samples in the same row indicate differences at \(p<0.05\).  
\end{table} 
Table 1: Total content of carotenoids (TCC) and anthocyanins (TAC) in fresh-untreated purple carrots and purple carrots treated with MJ and ABA. differences at \(p<0.05\). Quantification was carried out by interpolating the results of the samples in a calibration curve of \(\beta\)-carotene whose concentrations ranged from 10 \(\mathrm{\SIUnitSymbolMicro mL^{-1}}\) to 300 \(\mathrm{\SIUnitSymbolMicro mL^{-1}}\) (r\({}^{2}\) = 0.9897). As can be seen in Table 2, lutein and \(\beta\)-carotene were the carotenoids identified in the extracts, the latter being the major one. Some authors have also reported minor concentrations of \(\alpha\)-carotene in certain dark-colored carrot cultivars [32,42]. However, its presence depends on the specific cultivar and part of the carrot-root used in the analysis (i.e., core, cortex or a mixture). In general, the darker the cultivar is, the lesser the amount of \(\alpha\)-carotene. Similarly, the closer to the core, the lesser the amount of \(\alpha\)-carotene [32]. For this reason, the absence of \(\alpha\)-carotene is not surprising. In fact, reports in the literature have determined lutein and \(\beta\)-carotene as the main carotenoids present in black-purple carrots [43].