Grade Designation | Grade requirements | Grade tolerance |
1 | 2 | 3 |
Extra class | Shelled Walnuts shall be of superior quality. They must be characteristic of the variety and/or commercial type. They shall not have any defect and must be uniform in size and colour. Scuffing is allowed on: – quarters and all pieces, – halves, provided it covers no more than 10% of the surface area of the skin. | 4 % by weight of Shelled Walnuts not satisfying the minimum requirements of which shell fragments or foreign matter shall not exceed 0.1%, rotten kernels shall not exceed 0.5 % and mouldy kernels shall not exceed 0.5%. |
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They shall have light cream or light golden co lour. | Tolerance of 8 %by weight for kernels darker in colour. |
Class I | Shelled Walnuts shall be of good quality. They must be characteristic of the variety and/or commercial type. They must be uniform in size and colour. They may have slight defects of sunburns, blackened kernels not exceeding 4 % of the total surface area. Scuffing is allowed on: – quarters and all pieces, – halves, provided it covers no more than 20% of the surface area of the skin. They shall have light cream, light golden or light amber colour . | 6 % by weight of Shelled Walnuts not satisfying the minimum requirements of which shell fragments or foreign matter shall not exceed 0.1%, rotten kernels shall not exceed 1 % and mouldy kernels shall not exceed 1%. |
| Tolerance of 9% by weight for kernels darker in colour. | |
Class II | This grade includes Shelled Walnuts which do not qualify for inclusion in Extra Class and Class 1, but satisfy the minimum requirements. They shall be uniform in size and colour. They may have defects of sunburns, blackened kernels not exceeding 8 % of the total surface area. (Scuffing is not considered as a defect.) This class includes mixtures of kernels of different colors and designated in the marking by the words mixed colors. They shall have light cream, light golden, light amber or brown colour. | 8 % by weight of walnut not satisfying the minimum requirements of which shell fragments or foreign matter shall not exceed 0.1%, rotten kernels shall not exceed 2 % and mouldy kernels shall not exceed 2%. |
| Tolerance of 10% by weight for kernels darker in colour. |
- Sufficiently dry to ensure keeping quality;
- Sound, produce affected by rotting or deterioration such as to make it unfit for human consumption is excluded;
- fresh in appearance;
- clean, practically free of any visible foreign matter;
- free of damage caused by low and/or high temperature;
- free of external moisture, excluding condensation following removal from cold storage;
- free of any foreign smell and/or taste;
- free from walnut-meal or flour;
- free from residue of husk;
- free of damage caused by pests;
- free from oily appearance and/or rancidity;
- edible and having characteristic taste and aroma.