Carrot ( Daucus carota L.) root shreds were stored under a continuous flow of 0.5% and 2% O 2 (balance N 2 ) or in air for 7 days at 5 and 15 °C to study the regulation of ethanolic fermentation metabolism. Low-O 2 atmospheres of 0.5% and 2% caused increases in ethanol and acetaldehyde concentrations and the activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) compared to air. By day 3, ethanol increased 38-, 25-, 13-, and 9.5-fold; acetaldehyde increased 20-, 13-, 7.7-, and 5.6-fold; ADH increased 7.6-, 6.3-, 3.8-, and 2.7-fold; and PDC increased 4.2-, 3.9-, 2.3-, and 2.2-fold in samples at 0.5% O 2 at 15 or 5 °C and at 2% O 2 at 15 or 5 °C, respectively, compared with corresponding samples in air. These results indicate that ethanolic fermentation was accelerated more in the 0.5% than in the 2% O 2 atmosphere and more at 15 °C than at 5 °C. The acceleration of ethanolic fermentation may allow production of some ATP, which may permit the carrot tissues to survive.
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Kato‐Noguchi et al. (1997) studied this question.