Glossary · Orchard
Fruit sorting
Also written grading. Each is a name for the same thing, which is why none of them has an entry of its own.
Definition
Removing rotten, mouldy and foreign material from harvested fruit before milling, by hand on a table or by flotation and mechanical inspection at scale.
- Subject
- Orchard
- Also written
- grading
In more detail
Sorting is the only point at which patulin can be controlled cheaply, because the toxin is already in the fruit by the time it reaches the mill and is not destroyed by fermentation. It also removes the soil, leaves and stones that damage mills.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Production
Fruit sorting
Taking rotten, mouldy and damaged fruit and foreign material out of the crop before it reaches the mill, which is the primary control on patulin in cider.
Production
Patulin control
Managing the mycotoxin produced by rot fungi in damaged apples, which is controlled by fruit selection rather than by any treatment applied to juice.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Orchard
Windfall
Fruit that has fallen from the tree before deliberate harvest. In cider orchards windfalls are a normal part of the crop; the question is how long they have lain and in what condition.
Chemistry
Patulin
A mycotoxin produced chiefly by *Penicillium expansum* in rotting apples, regulated in apple juice and apple products because of its toxicity. Sorting out rotten fruit is the principal control.
Milling and pressing
Flotation
Moving and washing fruit in a channel of water on its way to the mill. Apples float, while stones, soil and much rotten fruit sink, so the flume cleans and sorts at the same time.
Fruit
Brown rot
A fungal rot of apples and pears, chiefly *Monilinia fructigena*, producing an expanding brown lesion with concentric rings of buff spore pustules. Affected fruit is unfit for milling.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
Cider and perry production technical training material
Peter Mitchell / Cider and Perry Academy · reference work · registered as competent for this subject
Searched again on 2026-08-25 and it remains the one printed source here that a bibliographic check cannot fix, because it is not a published work with an edition. It is course material issued to participants of a training programme, so there is no catalogue record to verify, no ISBN, and no lawful public copy. Its state stays `registered` for that reason rather than through inattention.
European Food Safety Authority scientific opinions
EFSA · regulator · retrieved 2026-08-24
Registered for the food-safety questions cider genuinely raises: patulin in juice from rotten fruit, sulphite sensitivity, and the toxicology behind additive limits.