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FACTORS AFFECTING WEIGHT LOSS IN CARROTS
Respirational losses are small at low temperatures used in prolonged storage, and at higher temperatures where respiration is high, carrots can be stored only for short periods.
It is usually assumed that the rate of transpiration from a plant organ is proportional to its surface area, and the water vapour pressure deficit of the ambient air.
It is further influenced by the air velocity, but only negligibly by the osmotic potential of the cells.
As carrot roots have no stomata, the influence of stomatal opening need not be considered.
The aim of the experiments to be reported here, has been to find an expression for the rate of transpiration per unit of surface area per mm Hg of water vapour deficit, and also how it varies with air velocity.
As carrots are marketed in greatly differing sizes, and stored and marketed in temperatures from slightly below zero to above 20°C, it has been investigated whether the transpiration per unit of area per mm Hg of water vapour deficit is affected by the size of the roots, or the temperature.
For practical purposes it would obviously be of great convenience if the transpiration rate per unit of surface area and mm Hg proved to be a constant which could be applied under widely differing conditions of root sizes and storage temperatures.