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Agricultural Product Standards Act, 1990 (Act No. 119 of 1990)

Regulations

Regulations relating to the Grading, Packing and Marking of Fresh Fruits intended for sale in the Republic of South Africa

Part II : Specific Regulations for Fresh Fruit

(a) Cactus Pear

Method of Inspection

18. Determination of ripeness

 

Ripeness of cactus pears shall be determined as follows:

 

(1) Take as working sample ten cactus pears at random from the inspection sample obtained in accordance with regulation 15;

 

(2) Bisect each fruit on the longitudinal axis;

 

(3) Pips must be well developed with jelly and not soft and flaccid; and

 

(4) Determine the number of cactus pears which exceed or do not exceed the optimum ripeness stage and calculate it as a percentage of the total number of cactus pears obtained in the inspection sample according to regulation 15.

 

Table 1 : General Quality Standards

 

Quality defect

Class 1

Class 2

1. Cochenille stains

Stains of which the total surface area does not exceed 100 mm² is allowable: Provided that the stains do not detrimentally affect the appearance of the fruit

Stains of which the total surface area does not exceed 225 mm² is allowable: Provided that the stains do not detrimentally affect the appearance of the fruit

2. Cochenille damage

May not exceed a surface area larger than 30 mm²

May not exceed a surface area larger than 50 mm²