SPOILAGE OF FRESH FRUITS AXD VEGETABLES 29 



A summary of all beet inspections is given in table 17. Decay per 

 carlot inspected ranged from to 2.3 percent and averaged 1.2 per- 

 cent for the entire period. Nearly all was caused by bacterial soft 

 rot. Nearly twice as much decay was found in beets from Texas 

 as in those from Virginia. Decay in beets from Texas was most 

 prevalent in May and June and least so in December. 



Broccoli 



Over 8,000 carlots of broccoli were unloaded during the 7-year 

 period. Sixty-six percent of all unloads were rail shipments, practically 

 all of which were from the 5 States covered by these inspections. 

 Thirty-four percent were truck shipments, chiefly from New York 

 (Long Island and elsewhere), New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. 



Inspections were made on 2,445 carlots, or 46 percent of all rail 

 unloads. Distribution of decay 14 within them was as follows: 



Carlots in indicated 

 decay class 



Decav class (percent) : dumber Percent Decay class (percent)- 



0__" 2,197 89.9 Continued 



Trace-4 108 4.4 50-54 



5-9 52 2. 1 55-59 



10-14 24 1.0 60-64 



15-19 17 .7 65-69 



20-24 15 .6 70-74 



25-29 7 .3 75-79 



30-34 8 .3 80-84 



35-39 2 . 1 85-89 



40-44 2 .1 90-94 



45-49 5 .2 



Decay, averaging 11.5 percent per carlot showing decay, was found 

 in 248 carlots, or 10 percent of those inspected. Distribution of decay 

 by types was as follows: 



Distribution 



Carlots in i 



ndicated 



decay class 



Nu mber 



Percent 



1 



Trace 











1 



Trace 











1 



Trace 



1 



Trace 



2 



. 1 



1 



Trace 



1 



Trace 



Kind of decay: Carlots (number) Average per carlot (percent) 



Bacterial soft rot 242 9. 6 



Alternaria leaf spot _ _ 12 39. 2 



Other decay 2 25.0 



All broccoli inspections are summarized in table 18. Bacterial soft 

 rot caused by far the greater part of the spoilage. Total of decays 

 per carlot inspected ranged from 0.1 to 2.2 percent and averaged 1.2 

 percent for the entire period. Decay was most prevalent hi broccoli 

 from Florida and least prevalent in that from Arizona. Alternaria 

 leaf spot was reported only from Florida. In the analysis of Arizona, 

 California, and Texas data by months it can be seen that decay was 

 most prevalent from December through March, with the peak in 

 January. 



14 Alternaria leaf spot included with decay 



