Wholesomeness is usually though to be related “freshness." Defects in wholesomeness may be brought about by the food itself or external factors such asenvironment (temperature, humidity, etc.) or handling (bruising,_ cutting).Wholesomeness is a relatively difficult atribute to measure objectively, but it is oftentaken into account in the grading and pricing of the product. This attribute also involvesa“"sanitary" component (how clean/hygienic is the product) and the presence of foreignmaterials. Microscopic, microbiological, and X-ray technologies are among the manytechniques used to measure these attributes.