SPOILAGE OF FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 



15 



From the summary of all orange inspections given in table 7, it will 

 be noted that the average decay per carlo t inspected ranged from 0.9 

 to 1.8 percent. The average spoilage for the entire period was 1.1 

 percent of all fruit; about two-thirds of this was blue mold rot. Decay 

 was more prevalent in California fruit than in that from Florida. It 

 should be pointed out, however, that relatively few carlots of Cali- 

 fornia fruit were inspected. In the analysis of Florida data by months 

 it will be noted that blue mold rot was responsible for twice as much 

 spoilage as was stem-end rot. The least blue mold rot occurred from 

 September through November. For other months it was reported 

 rather uniformly, in amounts ranging from 0.5 to 1.2 percent. Stem- 

 end rot was most prevalent in June and July and in October and 

 November. 



Peaches 



Over 40,000 carlots of peaches were unloaded during the 7-year 

 period. Kail shipments from 24 States comprised 50 percent of the 

 unloads; however, practically all rail shipments originated in the States 

 listed in table 8. Nearly 50 percent of all unloads were truck ship- 

 ments from 14 States. A few carlots arrived by boat from Chile. 



Inspections were made on 2,258 carlots, or approximately 11 percent 

 of all rail unloads. Distribution of decay within them was as follows: 



Decay class (percent): Number 



0. 



Trace-4. 



5-9 



10-14__. 

 15-19._- 

 20-24_ _ . 

 25-29__. 

 30-34. __ 



Carlots in indicated 





Carlots in 



indicated 



decay class 



Decay class (percent- 



decay class 



Number Percent 



Number 



Percent 



1, 128 50. 



Continued 







878 38. 9 



35-39 



4 



0.2 



147 6. 5 



40-44 



1 



Trace 



46 2.0 



45-49 



1 



Trace 



21 .9 



50-54 



2 



. 1 



9 .4 



55-59 











7 .3 



60-64 











13 .6 



65-69 



1 



Trace 



Decay, averaging 3.8 percent per carlot showing decay, was found 

 in 1,130 carlots, or 50 percent of those inspected. Distribution of 

 decay by types was as follows: 



Distribution 

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



Brown rot 866 3.4 



Rhizopus rot 501 2.7 



Other decay 121 .8 



A summary of all peach inspections is given in table 8. Decay per 

 carlot inspected ranged from 0.5 to 3.5 percent and averaged 1.9 per- 

 cent for the entire period. Brown rot accounted for about two-thirds 

 of all decay and rhizopus rot for one-third; both were present each 

 year. Decay was most prevalent (10.0 percent) in peaches from 

 California, some decay being reported in 88 percent of the carlots in- 

 spected from that State; most of it was due to brown rot. Except for 

 States from which 32 or fewer carlots were inspected, decay in fruit 

 from States other than California ranged from 1.0 to 1.9 percent. 



