About 13% of the carotene in leaves of pigmented carrots wds in the a-form. a-Carotene was absent from the leaves of all types of ' white '-rooted carrots except second generation albinos, although the content of ,%carotene was normal. a-Carotene was present in cotyledons of those carrots which had, or would later have, any carotene (a or , 9) in their roots even a t a stage too early for the roots yet to be coloured. * Member of the scientific staff of the Agricultural Research Council J . Sci. Food Agric., 7, June, 1956 had no a-carotene in the leaves. Hence the absence of a-carotene from leaves of a carrot indicates that there is not, nor ever will be, appreciable concentrations of any of the carotenes in the roots.
Dunn Nutritional LaboratoryCambridge