Have you ever wondered what makes your cute, little carrot curl up when you shred it out and left out for a while? Well, science has answered the question. It was not what they intended to answer. They simply quantified the process that makes carrots curl up if left uneaten for too long.
The research paper by Mechanical Engineering student Nguyen Vo-Bui was titled, “Modelling of longitudinally cut carrot curling induced by the vascular cylinder-cortex interference pressure”, and was published in Royal Society Open Science.
Working in his kitchen, Nguyen characterised, analytically modeled, and verified the aging of over 100 Lancashire Nantes carrot halves, and cut lengthways, using finite-element (FE) models normally used in structural engineering.
Why a carrot curls up?
The research team concluded that residual stresses and dehydration were the two key factors behind the curling behavior.
The starchy outer layer of the carrot (the cortex) is stiffer than the soft central vein. When cut lengthwise, the two carrot halves curl because the difference in stress becomes unbalanced. Dehydration leads to further loss of stiffness, further driving the curling effect.
What does it mean?
The study gives food producers a new mathematical tool that could be applied to the design of packaging and food handling processes, potentially reducing food waste.
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Dr. Elise Pegg, a senior lecturer in Bath’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, is one of the research paper authors and oversaw the study. She said in an official statement, “We have mathematically represented the curl of a cut carrot over time, and showed the factors that contribute to curling.”
“Our motivation was to look for ways to improve the sustainability of carrot processing and make them as long-lasting as possible. We have produced a methodology that a food producer could use to change their processes, reducing food waste and making packaging and transportation more efficient. Understanding the bending behavior in such systems can help us to design and manufacture products with higher durability.”
