Upon receipt of carrots (25 kg), they were washed and chopped into 5 mm cubes with a food chopper (Model 84185, Hobart Corporation, Troy, OH). The carrot cubes were freeze-dried until moisture content was approximately 0.8%. The desired particle size distribution (0.25–0.5, 0.5–1 and 1–2 mm) was achieved by grinding the cubes with a Quadro Comil grinder and sieving prior to extraction. All the ground samples were vacuum packed in several moisture and O2-barrier bags, labelled and stored at −18 °C in dark to minimize any carotenoid degradation.