I am sure you have heard of the defects; sunburn and sunscald, but can you properly identify them? Do you understand the difference? As their name implies, these defects are caused by overexposure to the sun. When a fruit or vegetable is overly exposed to the sun they take on different characteristics. Most specimens will […]
Articles by: tyawman
Sunburn/Sunscald
Broccoli- Light Green Color
There are a few commonly found defects you will find when inspecting broccoli; bruising, flowering bud clusters and yellow and discolored bud clusters. Only one defect, flowering bud clusters has a USDA defined scoring guideline. Flowering bud clusters is scored as a defect when more than 3 buds are obviously open. The USDA does state […]
Peaches- Surface Discoloration
You may receive peaches packed in cells, or a place pack, or they may be volume filled, or a jumble pack. Either way, you must still be on the lookout for peaches with soft, bruised spots, or peaches that exhibit surface discoloration. Surface discoloration may take on different looks, ranging from small rubs to extremely […]
Inspection Training Certification
There has been a noticeable increase in training requests, with wholesalers asking about training certification. International Produce Training does provide training certification to all attendees that successfully complete their training program. Some of the inspection procedure training objectives include: To read and understand U.S. Grade Standards and defect tolerances Defect identification Defect scoring guidelines Proper inspection procedures, […]
Watermelons- Ring Spot Virus
A few of you may have encountered some strange circles affecting the rinds of watermelons. The circles may vary in size and the area affected, but they still usually materially affect the appearance. This defect is caused by a virus, named the papaya ring spot virus. These images show the classic symptoms of the virus; […]
Onions- Black Mold
With the hot humid weather stretching across the United States one defect to keep your eye out for, when inspecting onions, is Black Mold. You will find this defect on all types of onions, northern grown onions, Texas onions, yellow onions, red onions, jumbo onions or pre-pack onions. The USDA Inspection Instructions state: The indication […]
Apricots- Sunken Discolored Areas
When inspecting apricots there are a few defects you should always keep an eye out for. Bruising, surface discoloration, soft and decay are the most common defects, along with sunken discolored areas. Sunken discolored areas can be caused a few ways, but it always is due to some kind of injury to apricot, where upon […]
Watermelons- Red Color
Inspecting watermelons can be challenging, especially when you encounter a load of watermelons with maturity problems, or pink to light red color. There are a few external indicators to look for to determine if a watermelon is mature. You would want to see a creamy or yellow color on the ground side of the melon; a filled out […]
Pineapples- Soluble Solids
With Pineapples reaching $3 a piece on the retail shelf, I received a question regarding the proper procedure for sampling pineapples when determining the percent of soluble solids (brix), specifically how many pineapples would have to be destroyed, for the extraction of juice. The produce inspector had done his research, noting the USDA does not have […]
Peaches- Color Requirements
You may be receiving some bulk peaches, and the color does not appear to be as uniform as the place packs from Chile or California. You may be wondering if the peaches can be rejected based on color. As you can see from above, some of the peaches have full color, while others have the […]