When inspecting kiwifruit you will usually only encounter a few defects. Some of the common defects you may find are: shriveling, bruising, soft and decay. If the kiwi has been in storage you may also come across kiwi which has sunken areas or pitted areas. This is due to moisture loss of the fruit. You can see […]
Category Archives: Defect Identification
Kiwi- Sunken Areas
Romaine- Rib Discoloration
Take a look at this picture below, of Romaine, and see if you can identify the three defects circled. Defect #1 is Downy Mildew, Defect #2 is Marginal Discoloration, and Defect #3 is Bruising. Now if you found this leaf on a plant of romaine, would the plant be considered a defect? If you reviewed the […]
Onions- Sprouts
One of the easiest defects to identify on onions, are visible sprouts. As the onion comes out of dormancy, it begins to grow, or develop a sprout. These fresh, light green to green sprouts are always a defect, and could very well be a serious damage defect. The scoring guidelines are fairly straight-forward. If you […]
Plums- Shriveling
You most likely have been receiving grapes, apples, pears, plums and peaches from Chile. Much of the fruit is shipped immediately to distribution centers while some of the fruit is placed in cold storage. One defect you may see, especially from plums that may have been in cold storage is shriveling. The shriveling will most […]
Tomatoes- Alternaria Decay
Within the next week you may begin seeing some problems with some Florida tomatoes, if you happen to see any Florida tomatoes at all. The recent nights of below freezing temperatures produced some major issues for the Florida tomato growers. The complete picture of damage will not be known for a few more weeks. Alternaria Rot […]
Strawberries- Bruising or Decay
Probably one of the easiest commodities to learn how to inspect is Strawberries. Although there are a few defects that are commonly found, most are easy to identify. Except one. By far the most common defect found while inspecting strawberries is bruising; and it is easily the most misidentified. Way too many inspectors, whether they are […]
Lemons-Contact Spot
One of the most unique defects is contact spot. Simply put, if a perfectly good lemon has mold or decayed tissue on it’s skin, the lemon is scored as a defect. The USDA inspection instructions state: “Any size area on a lemon that shows evidence of having been in contact with decay or mold is […]
Apples- Watercore
Many of you have probably cut into an apple and sometimes noticed a watersoaked, glassy appearance. This defect is called watercore. Visible watercore if you can detect the glassy appearance without cutting the apple, or invisible watercore when there is not indication of the defect, unless you cut the apple in half. This defect is found […]
Pears- Surface Discoloration
When inspecting pears, especially the summer and fall varieties, such as Bartletts, you may come across different types of scarring, ranging in color and in size. The affected areas may be smooth, or they may be slightly rough to rough, to the touch. The discoloration may range from a light brown color to a dark […]
Apples-Moldy Stems
As I roamed the produce aisles of our local grocery store yesterday I saw displays of new crop apples. You may still be receiving some varieties of last year’s crop, as the growers begin to clean out their controlled atmosphere storage rooms. With the storage apples you may encounter a few apples with moldy stems, […]