135 CryoLetters 46(2), 135 – 142 (2025) © CryoLetters, editor@cryoletters.org https://doi.org/10.54680/fr25210110812 EXPOSURE OF CARROT SEEDS TO CRYOPRESERVATION INCREASES ROOT WEIGHT AND DECREASES LEVELS OF CELL WALL-LINKED PHENOLICS Ysmel Entensa 1 , Gustavo Lorente 1 , Lisbet Pérez-Bonachea 1 , Julio Rodolfo Ynchausti 1 , Julia Martínez 1 , Byron E. Zevallos–Bravo 2 , Barbarita Companioni 3 , Elliosha Hajari 4 , Yanier Acosta 1 , Hugh W. Pritchard 5 and José Carlos Lorenzo 1 * 1 Laboratory for Plant Breeding and Conservation of Genetic Resources, Bioplant Center, University of Ciego de Avila, Ciego de Ávila, 69450, Cuba. 2 Universidad Estatal del Sur de Manabí (UNESUM), Ecuador. 3 Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Coahuila, México. 4 Plant Improvement; Agricultural Research Council-Tropical and Subtropical Crops; Private Bag X11208, Nelspruit, 1200, South Africa. 5 Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming, Yunnan, China (ORCID: 0000-0002-2487-6475) *Corresponding author’s E-mail: lorenzojosecarlos68@gmail.com Abstract BACKGROUND: The long-term preservation of plant germplasm is critical to ensure a pool of genetic diversity for future breeding efforts and for conservation management .Although it is important to assess whether the biochemical properties and vigour of the germplasm remain unchanged. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential effects of cryopreservation in liquid nitrogen (LN) as a strategy for conservation of carrot. RESULTS: Seeds were exposed to cryogenic temperatures and growth and development was monitored in Petri dishes (for up to 14 days) and in a pot trial (90 days). By day 7, 53% control seeds had germinated compared with 70% seeds exposed to LN. Biochemical attributes were also assessed. Initial differences were observed in the growth rate of plants, where plants originating from seeds exposed to LN emerged faster than those originating from control seeds. However, at the end of the pot trial, differences were only observed in belowground biomass (i.e., mass of carrots). Biochemical evaluations showed that carotenoids and cell wall-linked phenolics were elevated in carrots produced from seeds exposed to LN. CONCLUSION: Overall, the results show that cryopreservation can be used as a viable strategy for long-term preservation of carrot germplasm. Keywords: abiotic stress; carrot quality; climate change; cryopreservation; vegetables. INTRODUCTION Daucus carota subsp. sativus (carrot), of the Apiaceae family, is the domesticated form of wild carrot and represents the most cultivated plant within this family (1, 2, 3). It is native to central Asia and the Mediterranean and it is cultivated for its root, which is much larger, more flavorful and has a less fibrous texture than the wild species (4). It is a biennial plant that forms a rosette of leaves in autumn and winter, while developing the napiform root, which is able to store large amounts of sugar as a reserve for the following year's flowering. The flower stem grows to more than 100 cm with several umbels of white flowers. The edible root is usually orange, although there are white, yellow or purple varieties (5).