I have a bilt in meter! lol.

John Kohler uses his in his produce garden at his home. He tests his produce with the Brix..but I doubt he's throwing away produce that is not optimal. I wonder if the biggest gain to using the refractometer is learning the optimum conditions for soil, plant feeding, best types of seeds to plant for optimum produce.

Here's a really dumb question..but I'll ask anyway..what if someone wants to eat low glycemic produce? Somehow that didn't sound too dumb

Then here's someone that tested a lot of weird things using the refractometer.

[thenewagriculture.blogspot.com]

Somehow this gets even more confusing to me..because if the end result is to get a high Brix reading or the best reading for that particular produce, even if it takes the conventional way of growing it with ferterlizers, pesticides, spraying, etc..then that's ok?

Love,
Prism

You have some good points Prism. But lets just say that Brix is one way to ascertain produce ripeness, quality and also soil quality. Perhaps a high Brix reading can be produced by using fertilizer etc...I don't know if it does, and perhaps someone on here knows?

Taste is probably the best way, as a poor tasting fruit will either be too green or poor quality, whether it's organic or not. What I have noticed, it that there's not much difference between organic and inorganic carrots as far as Brix is concerned. But I'd still prefer to buy organic carrots just in case inorganic carrots can get a high Brix reading by means of inorganic fertilizer.

Also Prism, a grower will grow his/her crops for a particular market. And people will buy depending on many factors, such as price, size, looks (blemishes etc), taste, colour, organic and inorganic. So if a farmer wants to cater for the organic market, then he/she will want to do whatever it takes to provide the best produce. It it's too much trouble, then they may change their target market. There's alot of choice here.

Anyway, I believe that the Brix is a good way to check where the best produce is grown or sold for my tastes. For instance, if I'm juicing carrots together with one or two or more other fruit or veg, then I might not know if the carrots (or whatever other ingredient) is good quality or not. So I'll check while I'm juicing them, and if the Brix is low, then I'll either buy elsewhere or talk to the seller about where they buy in their carrots or if their latest batch is from the same grower etc....

Perhaps it is abit like a toy Prism, but it has it's uses, and I'd personally like the produce stores to display Brix readings, such as in the vid Jodi posted and they may even increase their profit too. Anyway, I really appreciate and respect your perspective on the matter Prism, as it's given me plenty to think about and has broadened my view also, thank you.

Cheers, geo x

Excellent reply Geo. I'm with you on all your points.

Love,
Prism

Brix isn't just a measure of sugar content. It measures total dissolved solids, including minerals. A fuzzy line generally indicates lots of minerals. Cherimoya usually have a much fuzzier line than mangoes, for instance, because they are nearly always relatively much higher in minerals.

NPK fertilizer can help produce high Brix, but not beyond a certain point. A plant has to have minerals, especially calcium, to build high Brix. Trace minerals like boron are important too.

Ok, thx for that kid :-)