In Brazil, street markets and vegetable distributors discard vegetable leaves and stems, including those of carrot (Dacus carota L.). Seeking to reduce the waste of vegetable parts, this study characterized chemically the leaves of organically grown carrot in three stages of development to determine the best time for their removal and consumption as food. The leaves were dehydrated in an oven at 70 °C for 43 hours and analyzed for chemical composition, antioxidant activity, chlorophyll content, fatty acid composition, and also calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), and copper (Cu) contents. The analyses indicated 100 days of development as the ideal stage for the removal and consumption of carrot leaves with good antioxidant activity requiring only 63.78 ± 0.5 mg.L-1 methanol leaf extract to inhibit 50% of the concentration of the free radical DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1picrilidrazil), and total protein and alpha-linolenic acid (18:3 n-3/LNA) contents of 18.23% ± 2.8 and 876.55 ± 20.62 mg.100 g-1 of dry matter, respectively.
carrot leaves; development; antioxidant activity
