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Agriculture vocabulary · Harvest and Storage

Ripe

Meaning in agriculture, with examples

adjectiveCore term

In agriculture, ripe means: Fully developed and ready to be harvested or eaten, with the right color, sugar content, softness and flavor.

In Turkish: olgun, olmuş

How it is used

Used for fruit, vegetables and grain. The verb is 'ripen' and the noun is 'ripeness' or 'ripening'. Growers harvest fruit when it is ripe or slightly before; unripe fruit is called 'green' or 'immature'.

Example sentences

  1. The cherries were not ripe enough, so we delayed picking by a week.

  2. Tomatoes for export are picked before they are fully ripe.

Common collocations

  • fully ripe
  • ripe fruit
  • ripen on the tree
  • ripening stage
  • unripe
  • harvestThe work of gathering a ripe crop from the field, the time of year when this happens, or the total amount gathered.
  • cold storageKeeping fresh produce at low, controlled temperatures and humidity to slow ripening and decay; also the building or room used for this.
  • gradingSorting harvested produce into classes by size, weight, color, shape and defects, so that each class meets a market standard.
  • post-harvest lossThe amount or value of a crop that is lost between harvest and sale or consumption, because of damage, decay, pests, poor handling or bad storage.
  • packhouseA facility where fresh fruit and vegetables are received from farms, then washed, sorted, graded, packed and cooled before going to market or export.

More terms: Harvest and Storage

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