PlantBench / Yield loss by crop
Yield loss by crop, from USDA refuse percents
USDA Standard Reference 28 records a refuse percent for a raw commodity: the share of the item as purchased that the food description treats as inedible. Potatoes, flesh and skin, raw (NDB 11352) are 25 percent, described as parings and trimmings. That is a food-composition figure, not a measured plant peel loss. A plant's loss still varies with variety, size, and peeler setup.
What does the refuse percent measure?
In the SR28 Food Description file, Refuse is the percentage of refuse and Ref_desc names the inedible parts. The SR28 documentation says these amounts are a percentage of the total weight of the item as purchased, and that they are used to compute the weight of the edible portion. The same documentation says the refuse data were obtained from NFNAP and other USDA-sponsored contracts and from Agriculture Handbooks 102 (Matthews and Garrison, 1975) and 456 (Adams, 1975). This page copies the SR28 rows. It does not recompute them from those handbooks.
The nutrient values in the same database are for the edible portion. The refuse percent is a separate field. It is not a nutrient, and it is not a price.
How do you enter a figure on the worksheet?
Current loss is the percent of input weight that leaves at this step. Yield points recovered is how many of those points you expect to sell. The sheet caps recovered points at the current loss. If you have no plant measurement and you want a labeled starting point, type the refuse percent into Current loss. Type into Yield points recovered only the points you expect to keep. Do not type the refuse percent into Yield points recovered.
A value you type is unmarked on the PDF. A worksheet prefill you leave untouched is marked "(default — not entered)". Replace the refuse percent with a plant count of peel, trim, core, or sort loss before you treat the result as yours.
What are these figures not?
They are not a plant trial, a vendor yield, or an average across plants. They are not plate waste, and they are not the ERS Loss-Adjusted Food Availability series. A row is a sorting-defect figure only when its refuse description says defects. Onions, raw (NDB 11282) are the row in this table whose description includes defects. The other descriptions do not.
Two apple rows are two published items, not a range. Apples, raw, with skin (NDB 09003) are 10 percent, described as core and stem. Apples, raw, without skin (NDB 09004) are 23 percent, described as "10% core and stem, 13% skin".
Published refuse percents
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Nutrient Data Laboratory. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 28 (slightly revised). Version current: May 2016. Food Description file (FOOD_DES), fields Refuse (percentage of refuse) and Ref_desc (description of inedible parts). Each percent is the published refuse for that item. Nothing in the table is an average of these rows.
| Item | NDB | Refuse | Refuse description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apples, raw, with skin | 09003 | 10% | Core and stem |
| Apples, raw, without skin | 09004 | 23% | 10% core and stem, 13% skin |
| Broccoli, raw | 11090 | 39% | Leaves and tough stalks with trimmings |
| Cabbage, raw | 11109 | 20% | Outer leaves and core |
| Carrots, raw | 11124 | 11% | Crown, tops and scrapings |
| Cucumber, with peel, raw | 11205 | 3% | Ends |
| Onions, raw | 11282 | 10% | Stem ends, sprouts and defects |
| Oranges, raw, all commercial varieties | 09200 | 27% | Peel and seeds |
| Peaches, yellow, raw | 09236 | 4% | Pit |
| Pears, raw | 09252 | 10% | Stem, core and seeds |
| Potatoes, flesh and skin, raw | 11352 | 25% | Parings and trimmings |
| Sweet potato, raw, unprepared | 11507 | 28% | Parings and trimmings |
| Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average | 11529 | 9% | Core and stem ends |
Data file: Food Description file (FOOD_DES). Documentation: SR28 documentation and user guide.
Run it on the worksheet
Questions
Is this the loss a peeler will get?
No. These are USDA food-composition refuse percents for the item as purchased. A plant's peel, trim, or sort loss depends on variety, size, and the setup. Type the plant's measured loss into Current loss.
Which field do I type this into?
If you have no plant measurement, type the refuse percent into Current loss as a starting point. Yield points recovered is how many of those points you expect to sell. The sheet caps recovered points at the current loss.
Why are the two apple rows different?
They are two items in the Food Description file. NDB 09003, apples raw with skin, is 10 percent, described as core and stem. NDB 09004, apples raw without skin, is 23 percent, described as "10% core and stem, 13% skin".
Does the table include sorter reject rates?
No. Only the onion row's published description mentions defects: NDB 11282, stem ends, sprouts and defects, 10 percent. That is still an as-purchased refuse description, not a camera-sorter reject rate.