This study was undertaken to examine the quality characteristics of nonblanched carrots (CON) and carrots blanched in distilled water, 2% NaCl water and 2% citric acid at 100oC for 3 minutes. This moisture contents of CON was the highest at 85.91%, whereas NT had the lowest moisture at 83.92% (p<0.01). Compared to CON values the L values of pretreatment groups were decreased whereas the b values were increased (p<0.001) A comparison of true retention (TR), revealed that NT had the highest TPC TR 101.04% and TFC TR 91.59% (p<0.001). β-Carotene contents were determined to be higher in NT (1.98 mg/100 g) and CT (1.94 mg/100 g) than in other groups, with highest levels obtained in NT (106.64%) (p<0.001). Examination of the DPPH and ABTS+ radical scavenging activities revealed that the NT group had maximum scavenging activity. The total bacterial count was determined to be 3.37 log CFU/g in the CON, whereas no microorganisms were observed in all the pretreatment groups. Our study indicates that blanching in 2% NaCl water is the most desirable in order to increase the biochemical content and nutrient preservation rate of carrots, and to inhibit the growth of microorganisms.