Text D. Vegetables varieties

Vegetable processors must appreciate the substantial differences that varieties of a given vegetable will possess. In addition to variety and genetic strain differences with respect to weather, insect and disease resistance, varieties of a given vegetable will differ in size, shape, time of maturity, and resistance to physical damage.

Varietal differences then further extend into warehouse storage stability, and suitability for such processing methods as canning, freezing, pickling or drying. A variety of peas that is suitable for canning may be quite unsatisfactory for freezing and varieties of potatoes that are preferred for freezing may be less satisfactory for drying or potato chip manufacture.

This should be expected since different varieties of a given vegetable will vary somewhat in chemical composition, cellular structure and biological activity of their enzyme system.