blet

present singular third person blets · participle present bletting · participle past bletted · past bletted

1. To undergo or cause to undergo bletting, a fermentation process in certain fruit beyond ripening.

   c. 1835, B. Maund, The Botanic Garden, Or, Magazine of Flowering Plants, Volume 6, Simpkin & Marshall, page 115, Bletting is in particular a special alteration; it appears that the more austere a fruit is before this is brought on, the more it is capable of bletting regularly.

   2 more examples

   You can also hasten the bletting process by giving firm medlars a night in the freezer. I usually pick some medlars early to blet a little indoors, as this is perfect for making jelly, whereas fully soft fruit is ideal for any other use.

   2011, Mark Diacono, Fruit: River Cottage Handbook No.9, Bloomsbury Publishing, unnumbered page

   For example, you wouldn't be happy if you bit into a medlar. They need to be bletted (left to go over-ripe) before you can eat them but, once bletted, medlars taste sweet – a little bit like dates.[…]To be frank, bletting is a more polite word for "rotting".

   2021, Adele Nozedar, The Tree Forager, Watkins Media, unnumbered page

plural blets

1. A soft spot on fruit caused by bletting.