BACKGROUND: There is a need to advance the study of the effects of organic and conventional systems on product quality. In particular, little is known about the importance of different farming practices concerning nutrient cycling and the use of externalinputswithinorganicfarmingforthequalitycharacteristicsoftheproducts.Inthisstudythequalitycharacteristicsof carrotgrownunderdifferentfarmingpractices(conventionalandthreeorganiccroppingsystems)overatwo-yearperiodwere analysed with the aim of discriminating between organic and conventional and investigating the effect of different organic farmingpracticesconcerningnutrientrecyclinganduseofexternalnutrientinput. RESULTS:Allqualitycharacteristicsmeasureddidnotgiveacleardifferentiationbetweenthecarrotsfromthedifferentgrowing systems,evenwhenmultivariatestatisticalevaluation(principalcomponentanalysis)wasapplied,becauseofthesignificance of the differences between the field replicates within each management system and of the seasonality. Only some tendencies wereemphasisedoverthetwoyearsthatcouldberelatedtothefertilisationpracticesandtheexternalinputsused. CONCLUSION: The results indicated that it was not possible to discriminate over the years between carrots from conventional and different organic cropping systems even though controlled conditions and a multi-method approach of analysis were adopted.