brown heart

American  

noun

Plant Pathology.

1. a brown discoloration of the flesh of stored apples, resulting from high concentrations of carbon dioxide.

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Etymology

Origin of brown heart

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Heart muscle fibres turn dark brown, heart valves stretch like old rubber tubes, lose their youthful elasticity.

From Time Magazine Archive

The other kind has white wood with a small brown heart, but nearly as hard as lignum vitae.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 08 by Kerr, Robert

There are also endless varieties of cistus, from the small yellow annual with rich brown heart to the large gum cistus that covers so much of the poor soil in the Alemtejo.

From Portuguese Architecture by Watson, Walter Crum

No; her little brown heart remained true to Charlie, though she necessarily gave him less of her society than before.

From The Lonely Island The Refuge of the Mutineers by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)

Pores of spring wood form a broad band of several rows; easy splitting, dark brown heart.

From Wood and Forest by Noyes, William