To test the quality of fruits and vegetable, place a couple drops of their juice on the lens of a refractometer and get a brix reading. Use the brix scale/chart in the link (the higher the brix reading the better.

A brix scale helps you to identify quality food. It measures solids in the sap, which includes sugars, valuable minerals and trace minerals. Once you learn how to brix test your fruits and vegetables with a refractometer, you have the tool you need to see if produce is of inferior, average, good, or excellent quality.

Brix testing is important for a number of reasons. A higher brix means better flavor and more nutrient value. If you grow your own produce, brixing your vegetables and fruits will let you compare your garden produce to what you can buy in the store.

The brix of what you grow is directly related to the health of the soil, so checking the brix of your plants against the brix scale below will give you an idea of how healthy your soil is. Healthier soil means better, more nutritious crops, which means a healthier you. For guidelines on improving your soil using organic fertilizers.

Some people actually take their refractometer to the produce market. It is quite easy to brix test samples of fruits like cherries, berries or grapes. Others, like apples or potatos, might have to be purchased to brix test.

Learn more about checking the quality of produce using a refractometer by checking out the link below:

http://www.healthy-vegetable-gardening.com/brix-scale.html