ANALYSIS OF APPLE (Malus Domestica Borkh.) WAX BY MEANS OF CHROMATOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES AND CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY

E.A. Veraverbeke, P. Van Oostveldt, I.C. Decastro, B.M. Nicolaï
The wax of three economically important Belgian apple cultivars, ‘Jonagold’, ‘Jonagored’ and ‘Elstar’, was analysed chemically and structurally before and after 4 and 8 months of optimal ultra low oxygen (ULO) storage and during shelf life. Macroscopically and microscopically the surface properties of ‘Elstar’ were clearly different from the two other cultivars. These properties changed similarly for all cultivars during storage and shelf life. Chromatographic patterns of the three cultivars were dominated by the carbohydrate fraction with nonacosane (C29) as the major component. Again ‘Elstar’ differed in composition compared to ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Jonagored’. For the non-destructive structural analysis confocal microscopy was used, and this led to the development of a new technique for the determination of the wax layer thickness. This technique was compared with the chemical technique known for determination of wax layer thickness. With the confocal technique ‘Elstar’, ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Jonagored’ could be significantly (p=0.05) discriminated based on wax-layer thickness, showing values of 4.14 µm, 2.58 µm and 3.41 µm, respectively.
Veraverbeke, E.A., Van Oostveldt, P., Decastro, I.C. and Nicolaï, B.M. (2001). ANALYSIS OF APPLE (Malus Domestica Borkh.) WAX BY MEANS OF CHROMATOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES AND CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY. Acta Hortic. 553, 519-522
DOI: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.553.121
https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2001.553.121
Malus domestica Borkh., cuticular wax, confocal laser scanning microscopy
English
553_121
519-522

Acta Horticulturae