An instrumental method for determining the colour standard of dried carrots is proposed in the paper. Sensory analysis was made to verify the correctness of colour standard selection, and to determine homogenous groups of particular carrot varieties. The experimental material were 34 commercial varieties of carrot grown at the Vegetable Growing Station in Skierniewice in the year 2001. Colour standard determination and homogenous group selection based on instrumental measurement allowed replacing labour-consuming and expensive sensory analysis. The studies enabled determination of: the differences in the colour of dried carrots, the colour considered most desirable by consumers and the suitability of particular varieties for drying. A sensory evaluation was performed by ranking method, and instrumental measurement – with a spectrophotometer MiniScan XE Plus HunterLab. The following tests were used for statistical analysis: the non-parametric Friedman rank test, a test based on the Spearman coefficient of rank correlation and the multiple Duncan test. There was a statistically significant correlation (p=0.05) between the instrumental measurement and sensory evaluation. Particular carrot varieties showed statistically significant colour deviations from the standard. Statistical analysis of the results allowed distinguishing 13 homogenous groups, in terms of colour. The colour standard for dried carrots was obtained from the variety kantata (L*: 57.64; a*: 28.82; b*: 34.08). The variety joba differed from the standard to the highest degree and was characterized by the following parameters: L*: 49.83; a*: 11.91; b*: 19.82.