What you see: Brown lines on your wax beans (or green beans or other snap beans/string beans).What it is: Pod flecking or russeting, which can have various
Little spots on your avocado peel?
What you see: Small black or brown spots on the outside of your avocado, almost like it got a rug burn on the tips of its bumps.What it is: Lenticel damage!
Twisty, dried brown thing at bottom of banana
What you see: A twisty bit of dried plant material at the end of your banana. What it is: Dried petals!Eat or toss: The banana is still perfectly edible.
Dark spots or discoloration on mushrooms
What you see: Brown areas on your mushrooms that won’t wash off. What it is: Discoloration from bruising or aging. Eat or toss: A little discoloration isn't a
Black circles on avocado’s surface?
What you see: Black circles just below the avocado’s peel. You may also see small holes in the bruises. What it is: Finger bruising. Eat or toss: Eat! But you
Dark spots all over mango
What you see: Black dots all over your mango.What it is: Lenticel darkening!Eat or toss: Eat! This only affects the external appearance of the mango. Are
Dark, purple residue under avocado skin
What you see: A dark, purplish “dust” on the surface of your avocado, just under the skin. What it is: Pigment from the skin. Eat or toss: Eat! The purple
Shallow blackened holes on potato’s exterior
What you see: Blackish spots or holes on your potatoes like those pictured above; they may go below the peel. What it is: Likely pores that were damaged and
Is that grass in your spinach?
What you see: What looks like a blade of grass in your spinach clamshell. What it is: A “seed leaf” of spinach. Eat or toss: Eat! This is just more
Is that mold in this split-pit peach?
What you see: Your peach’s pit has split open, the area around the pit is bumpy and strange. You might be worried about mold. What it is: The pit split while
Dark streaks on your mango’s skin?
What you see: Darkened skin in a drip pattern around the stem of your mango. What it is: A chemical burn from the mango’s naturally occurring sap. Eat or toss:
A rough brown band around apples
What you see: Rough brown skin forming a thick band that partially or entirely encircles the fruit. The apple is probably shaped a bit oddly too. What it is:
Weak greens and peach fuzz: Six fun & fresh fruit and veg facts
From the particulars of peach harvesting to why some leafy greens are sturdier than others, I learned so, so much at the virtual Postharvest Technology of
Why does some broccoli look blue?
What you see: Broccoli with a blueish tingeWhat it is: Plant pigments and/or a waxy coating on the broccoli Eat or toss: Eat! This is normal for broccoli Why
Dispatch from the virtual Postharvest Technology Short Course at UC Davis
When I’m putting together pieces for EatOrToss, I often turn to researchers in a field known as postharvest science. These are the horticulturists, plant
Purple splotches on your cauliflower?
What you see: White cauliflower with some random purple patches in the branches and stemWhat it is: Bonus colors from anthocyanins, common plant pigments Eat or