SPOILAGE OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 61 



if the decay is in early stages. However, the exact point at which 

 any given decay reported on a certificate becomes of marked com- 

 mercial importance is of course impossible to determine. Actually 

 the presence of enough decay to warrant recording on the certificate 

 would detract to some extent at least from the consumer appeal of 

 any fruit or vegetable. This, in turn, would be reflected by either a 

 reduced sales price or the inability to sell at any price. It would 

 appear, therefore, that the policy adopted in the present circular of 

 considering all evidences of decay as indication of spoilage is fully 

 justified. 



By examining more closely the data on decay in table 40 it can be 

 determined (by multiplying the number of carlo ts inspected for each 

 commodity by the average decay recorded) that in all the carlots 

 of fruits inspected decay totaled 391 carlots. Similarly for the vege- 

 tables inspected decay totaled 5,320 carlots. Of all decay reported 

 on the fruits inspected, 30 percent was due to blue mold rot, 25 per- 

 cent to gray mold rot, 15 percent to rhizopus rot, and 3 percent to 

 cladosporium rot. The other 27 percent of fruit spoilage was 

 caused by 5 other types of decay and 4 nonparasitic types of defects. 

 Of all spoilage reported for vegetables, 36 percent was due to bacterial 

 soft rot, 3 percent to watery soft rot, 2 percent to rhizopus rot, and 

 1 percent to gray mold rot. The other 58 percent of vegetable 

 spoilage was caused by 27 other decays and 5 nonparasitic troubles. 



Two significant facts have already been pointed out: (1) That the 

 number of carlots inspected represented a high percentage of all rail 

 unloads and (2) that the carlots inspected were equally representative 

 of carlots in good and bad condition. Therefore, it appears to be a 

 fair assumption that decay in the carlots not inspected was as great 

 as in those that were inspected. By applying the figures on percent- 

 age decay for each commodity to all rail carlots of that commodity 

 unloaded at New York City during the 7-year period, it was calcu- 

 lated that decay in all rail shipments of the 14 fruits totaled 4,936 

 carlots and decay of the 31 vegetables totaled 15,689 carlots, or a 

 grand total of 20,625 carlots. These figures apply only to the 45 

 commodities included in the present study. They do not take into 

 consideration the decay that occurred in truck or boat shipments. 

 On the basis of the figures given, decay of the 45 commodities during 

 transit in rail shipments to New York City totaled annually nearly 

 3,000 carlots. 



SUMMARY 



A summary was made of the decay recorded on 117,613 inspection 

 certificates issued at New York City by the Fruit and Vegetable 

 Branch, Production and Marketing Administration, United States 

 Department of Agriculture, during the 7-year period from July 1, 

 1935, to August 1, 1942. The certificates dealt only with carlot 

 rail unloads. With certain specified exceptions the carlots inspected 

 were representative of all rail unloads during that period. 



The certificates covered the inspection of 14 fruits and 31 vege- 

 tables. An average of 14.3 percent of rail unloads of fruits and of 

 36.1 percent of vegetables were inspected. All important fresh fruits 

 and vegetables except bananas, lemons, pineapples, dandelions, 



