Background: Dairy products like ice cream, yogurt and buttermilk are consumed widely due to their rich taste but these products lack anthocyanins, which are polyphenol and exhibit great antioxidant activity in both in vivo and in vitro studies. Therefore, adding a natural source of these antioxidants to the commonly consumed dairy product will be beneficial to the masses. Among all the sources, black carrots are the extraordinary and cheapest source of anthocyanins, which are commonly consumed as a natural fermented drink. In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the feasibility of black carrot concentrate as an ingredient into dairy products. Methodology: Ice cream, yogurt and buttermilk were prepared by incorporating black carrot concentrate at 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10% level and were subjected to sensory analysis. The most acceptable products with 7.5% black carrot concentrate were analyzed for minerals, polyphenols and antioxidant activity. Effects of storage on physicochemical, microbial and sensory attributes of black carrot concentrate incorporated dairy products were further analyzed. Results: Sensory analysis revealed that black carrot concentrate could be used up to 7.5% as an ingredient into dairy product with high acceptability. Significant improvement in mineral content (Mg and Fe), polyphenols and antioxidant activity were reported in black carrot concentrate added dairy products. Developed dairy products exhibited an excellent amount of 24.52-113.27 mg/100g anthocyanins. Flavonoids increased by 14.52-34.62 times and Folin-Ciocalteu reducing capacity increased by 26.39-35.87 times in experimental dairy products. The storage study revealed that ice cream could be stored for more than 60 days, yogurt up to 5 days and buttermilk up to 10 days with excellent stability attributes. Conclusion: Incorporation of black carrot concentrate at the level of 7.5% resulted in high acceptability and exceptional nutraceutical property of dairy products. Incorporation of black carrot concentrate into dairy products would enhance the nutraceutical properties and mineral content of food, which could be highly significant in preventing hidden hunger and oxidative stress-induced disorders in developing countries.

Germplasm evaluation, classification, characterization, and preservation are the initial requirements for any crop genetic improvement programs meant to promote economically important traits. Mean performance and range of different expressible traits through ANOVA showed highly significant differences within the various genotypes and helped to evaluate several promising carrot genotypes. The multivariate analysis method was used in this study, which was helpful in resolving different phenotypic and genotypic parameters/measurements of big collections into easy interpretable dimensions.The research work was carried out with eighty-one genotypes to evaluate genetic diversity in a germplasm collection through multivariate analysis.The divergence analysis grouped all eighty-one genotypes into ten clusters and cluster VI was found to be the biggest, comprised of 30 genotypes, followed by IV, which was comprised of 16 genotypes. Cluster X exhibited a high mean value for root weight and anthocyanin content; cluster III showed high value for days to 1st root harvest and root girth, and cluster V for dry matter content, total sugar content, and carotene content; respectively. The maximum distance between clusters was recorded among II and X cluster (43,678.5) follow by I and X (43,199.7), and it indicated that genotypes from these far away clusters could be used efficiently in breeding programs to obtain superior hybrids. Total sugar content (36.14%) contributed most to genetic divergence, followed by anthocyanin content (35.74%). Out of four principal components, PC1 largely contributed towards total variation, followed by PC2. The partial variances (%) from the first to fourth PC-axes were 36.77, 25.50, 12.67, and 10.17, respectively. Genotypes like PC-161, PC-173, PAU-J-15, PC-103, and PC-43 were considered superior with respect to marketable yield and its associated traits such as root length and root weight, and hence can be released directly as a variety.

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Black carrots are rich in bio-actives but underutilized owing to their short-term availability and perishable nature. Traditionally, black carrots have been used for the preparation of Kanji—a fermented non-dairy beverage prepared using natural fermentation by lactic acid bacteria and a few spices. This plant-based probiotic beverage has high antioxidant properties but there is a risk of contamination with pathogens due to uncontrolled fermentation during storage. To enhance the availability of this nutritious beverage throughout the year and to ensure the microbiological safety of the traditional fermented product, the present study was planned to optimize the process for controlled fermentation using freeze-dried lactic acid bacterial (LAB) culture and refractance window-dried black carrot powder. The physicochemical and microbiological profiles of LAB-fermented Kanji were analysed. The dried Kanji mix can be reconstituted into naturally fermented probiotic beverage with unique flavour and aroma along with ensured microbiological safety and enhanced commercial value.

Vegetable crops are known as protective foods due to their potential role in a balanced human diet, especially for vegetarians as they are a rich source of vitamins and minerals along with dietary fibers. Many biotic and abiotic stresses threaten the crop growth, yield and quality of these crops. These crops are annual, biennial and perennial in breeding behavior. Traditional breeding strategies pose many challenges in improving economic crop traits. As in most of the cases the large number of backcrosses and stringent selection pressure is required for the introgression of the useful traits into the germplasm, which is time and labour-intensive process. Plant scientists have improved economic traits like yield, quality, biotic stress resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, and improved nutritional quality of crops more precisely and accurately through the use of the revolutionary breeding method known as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein-9 (Cas9). The high mutation efficiency, less off-target consequences and simplicity of this technique has made it possible to attain novel germplasm resources through gene-directed mutation. It facilitates mutagenic response even in complicated genomes which are difficult to breed using traditional approaches. The revelation of functions of important genes with the advancement of whole-genome sequencing has facilitated the CRISPR-Cas9 editing to mutate the desired target genes. This technology speeds up the creation of new germplasm resources having better agro-economical traits. This review entails a detailed description of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology along with its potential applications in olericulture, challenges faced and future prospects.