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Portuguese to English translations [PRO] Science - Agriculture / Citrus cropping
Portuguese term or phrase:passado
I need an adjective in English to express that something is "passado", in the sense that it has reached a point beyond maturity and has lost its pleasant taste.
My text says that when oranges remain on the tree beyond the point when they should be harvested, their juice becomes "passado", meaning it tastes unpleasant because of low acidity.
Can I use "stale" in this situation? Or would "vapid" be a better option? I think the latter term is not frequently used and is probably unsuitable, but who am I to say?
Thanks for any suggestions or comments.
Preciso de um adjetivo em inglês para expressar que algo está "passado", no sentido de que está além da maturidade e perdeu o sabor agradável.
Meu texto diz que quando laranjas permanecem no pé além do ponto em que devem ser colhidas, o suco resultante fica "passado", isto é, o sabor é desagradável porque houve perda de acidez.
Pode-se usar "stale" nesse caso? Ou seria melhor "vapid"? Acho que este último é um termo pouco usado e inadequado, mas quem sou eu para achar?
Explanation: Rex: First, you have to remember that sugar is a part of Brix, but Brix is not sugar. If you go back and study a few later BrixTalk posts, you may spot the place where I commented on the "insipid" label used in Florida to address overly ripe oranges that had stayed on the tree too long. Taste is far more than just sugar. There are acids, flavonoids, aminos, antioxidants, oils and who knows what else involved. If the tree is in poor soil and does not have adequate resources to create what I call "goodies," that does not mean the leaves will cease making sugar and if the fruit remains on the tree past proper harvest time that sugar will accumulate.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs (2007-06-29 18:01:32 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Citrus is harvested by hand. At this point, there have not been any widely accepted methods of mechanical harvest. The time of harvest is dictated by the market or in some cases by legal maturity standards. Citrus is more forgiving than some other crops in that harvesting can be delayed somewhat and fruit quality is not decreased too much by the extra time on the tree. This varies with variety. However, if fruit are left on the tree too long, quality deteriorates as acid levels decrease and the taste becomes insipid.
Thanks to all respondents, particularly to Amy. I decided to use a combination of "insipid" and "off" (off-flavored) in my context. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
Yes Ben, but in my context the adjective should be applied to orange JUICE. What would be a good adjective to go with juice?
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Answers
16 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): -1
stale
Explanation: Stale sounds good to me. Vapid é mais apropriado para "sem gosto", sem graça.
Denise Miranda Local time: 03:15 Native speaker of: Portuguese
5 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
overripe
Explanation: for fruit, we say overripe. ;)
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 29 mins (2007-06-29 15:17:34 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Henrique, sorry, I can't think of a specific adjective we would use for juice. There may be one but I can't remember using or seeing it.
I think I would say: When the oranges are left on the tree until they reach the point of being harvested, the resulting juice is adversely affected due to the ripeness/overripeness of the fruit.
Ben Kohn Brazil Local time: 03:15 Native speaker of: English
Explanation: Rex: First, you have to remember that sugar is a part of Brix, but Brix is not sugar. If you go back and study a few later BrixTalk posts, you may spot the place where I commented on the "insipid" label used in Florida to address overly ripe oranges that had stayed on the tree too long. Taste is far more than just sugar. There are acids, flavonoids, aminos, antioxidants, oils and who knows what else involved. If the tree is in poor soil and does not have adequate resources to create what I call "goodies," that does not mean the leaves will cease making sugar and if the fruit remains on the tree past proper harvest time that sugar will accumulate.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 3 hrs (2007-06-29 18:01:32 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Citrus is harvested by hand. At this point, there have not been any widely accepted methods of mechanical harvest. The time of harvest is dictated by the market or in some cases by legal maturity standards. Citrus is more forgiving than some other crops in that harvesting can be delayed somewhat and fruit quality is not decreased too much by the extra time on the tree. This varies with variety. However, if fruit are left on the tree too long, quality deteriorates as acid levels decrease and the taste becomes insipid.
Explanation: Since you didn't give us context, we don't know how the word occurs in your project, but you migiht be able to rephrase the sentence.
Another possibility might be "becomes bitter," from the following example, but it's not quite the same because it's about time lapse after it's squeezed.
Navel oranges can be juiced for immediate consumption, but **navel orange juice becomes bitter after a few hours**. With the exception of navel, ...
aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/Citrus/oranges.htm
Muriel Vasconcellos United States Local time: 23:15 Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 52
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): -1
