Apiaceae Formerly Umbelliferae

The root of carrot Daucus carota) is eaten raw or cooked. The characteristic aroma and flavour of carrots are mainly due to volatile compounds, although non-volatile polyacetylenes and isocoumarins contribute significantly to the bitterness of carrots [1,2]. More than 90 volatile compounds have been identified from carrots (Table 7.9) [207-215]. The carrot volatiles consist mainly of terpenoids in terms of numbers and amounts and include monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and irregular terpenes. Monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes account 

Key flavour compounds Carrot Daucus carota) Celery and celeriac Apium graveolens) Parsnip Pastinaca sativa) Parsley Petroselinum crispum) 

Key flavour compounds Carrot Celery and celeriac Parsnip Parsley 

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) is a member of the Apiaceae family. The fresh leaves of parsley and the dried herb are widely used as flavouring. More than 80 compounds have been identified in the volatile fraction, and the aromatic volatiles of parsley are mainly monoterpenes and the aromatics myristicin and api-ole. It is suggested that the characteristic odour of parsley is due to the presence ofp-mentha-l,3,8-triene, myrcene, 3-sec-butyl-2-methoxypyrazine, myristicin, linalool, (Z)-6-decenal and (Z)-3-hexenal [227, 228]. Furthermore, /3-phellan-drene, 4-isopropenyl-l-methylbenzene and terpinolene contribute significantly 

The root of parsnip Pastinaca sativa) is eaten boiled or baked. The major classes of compounds identified in raw and cooked parsnip are monoterpenoids, aliphatic sulfur compounds, and 3-alkyl-2-methoxypyrazines [35]. To the best of our knowledge, no investigations have been performed to elucidate the character-impact compounds in parsnip by modern GC-O techniques however, it has been suggested that volatile compounds such as terpinolene, myristicin and 3-sec-butyl-2-methoxypyrazine maybe important contributors to the flavour of parsnip owing to either their high concentrations or their low threshold values, or both [35]. 

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The genera in the family of Apiaceae (formerly Umbelliferae) (Table 1) include a variety of spices and vegetables, such as angelica, anise, carrot, celery, chervil, coriander, cumin, diU, fennel, parsley, and parsnip. 

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) belongs to the family Apiaceae (formerly the Umbelliferae). It is native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean region and is cultivated mainly in India, Rumania, Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Argentina and the USA. India s export of fennel has improved slightly in the years 2001/02, 2002/03 and 2003/04, the value of which is given in Table 12.1. 

This genus formerly know as Umbelliferae contain petroselinate (cis-6-octadecenoate) esters in their seed oil. Most interest has focused on the possible oxidation of petroselinic acid at its double bond to produce adipic and lauric acids for industrial purposes (Kleiman, 1990 Knapp, 1990). Several of the Apiaceae are food plants, notably carrots and coriander. Although humans have not usually consumed much petroselinate in their diets, there is no reason to assume that petroselinate-rich oils would not be acceptable food oils. The Apiaceae produce seed with 20-50% oil and 15-30% protein. The petroselinate content of the oil varies from about 30 to 80%. Experiments are underway to transfer the genes for making petroselinate into other oilseed crops. 

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