Effect of Illite Treatment on the Yield and Quality Characteristics of Germinated Carrot Seeds

: Carrot ( Daucus carota L.) is an economically important vegetable crop that contains several health-promoting phytochemicals. Carrot seed extracts help in cardio-protection, muscle contraction regulation, regulating the total cholesterol and triglyceride high-density lipoprotein and very-low-density lipoproteins. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of carrot seed priming with different concentrations of illite solution. Although the yield of carrot sprouts was not significantly increased, the concentration of total mineral and total free amino acid of a few sprout samples were raised with illite treatment. Furthermore, the content of functional amino acids like γ-amino-n-butyric acid was improved in the illite-treated carrot sprouts. The results showed that illite treatment could offer a good option to enhance the quality of carrot sprouts.