Seasonal Variation in the Enzyme Content of Eleven Varieties of Carrots

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Abstract
Two harvests were made of carrots planted in Aug. and in Mar. The peeled portions of the carrots were assayed for catalase, perioxidase, ascorbic-acid oxidase; those planted in March were also tested for phosphatase. The activities per gm. of peeled tissue were about the same as for the whole carrot root except for peroxidase, which was concentrated in the peel. With the exception of peroxidase, the av. enzyme contents were in proportion to the favorableness of growing conditions at the time of harvests (July, Sept., Mar., and Jan.) with respect to photoperiod and temp. The growing condition had a greater influence than the physiol. age within the limits studied. Within a single harvest, the differences in enzyme content, i.e., differences attributable to var., ranged from 1.2-fold for phosphatase to 3.3-fold for ascorbic-acid oxidase, and averaged about 2-fold for the 4 enzymes studied. The ratios of the average enzyme contents for the July (best growing condition) and the Jan. (poorest growing condition) harvests were: 1.3 for peroxidase, 1.7 for catalase, and 5.5 for ascorbic-acid oxidase.

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