Articles
Composition and biomechanical behavior of olive fruit cuticles
Article number
1446_24
Pages
177 – 184
Language
English
Abstract
The plant cuticle acts as a protective layer covering aerial parts of plants.
Due to its location at the interface with the environment, it performs numerous roles such as preventing water loss, regulating gas exchange, protecting against UV light and mechanical damage, as well as participating in fruit postharvest.
Fruit damage reduces the quality of the final products, which is key for table olives consumers’ acceptance.
In this work, anatomical and mechanical properties of the cuticles from two cultivars with different sensitivity to damage (‘Manzanilla de Sevilla’ and ‘Manzanilla Cacereña’) have been studied.
Scanning electron microscopy showed small differences at the surface level after mechanical harvesting.
This was accompanied by a decrease in the amount of waxes. ‘Manzanilla de Sevilla’, the most sensitive cultivar, displayed a significantly lower amount of cuticle, waxes, and cuticle phenolics compared to ‘Manzanilla Cacereña’. Biomechanical analysis of the ‘Manzanilla de Sevilla’ cuticle showed that intracuticular waxes significantly increased the elastic modulus and reduced cuticle elongation whereas epicuticular wax removal did not seem to affect the biomechanical performance of the cuticle.
Due to its location at the interface with the environment, it performs numerous roles such as preventing water loss, regulating gas exchange, protecting against UV light and mechanical damage, as well as participating in fruit postharvest.
Fruit damage reduces the quality of the final products, which is key for table olives consumers’ acceptance.
In this work, anatomical and mechanical properties of the cuticles from two cultivars with different sensitivity to damage (‘Manzanilla de Sevilla’ and ‘Manzanilla Cacereña’) have been studied.
Scanning electron microscopy showed small differences at the surface level after mechanical harvesting.
This was accompanied by a decrease in the amount of waxes. ‘Manzanilla de Sevilla’, the most sensitive cultivar, displayed a significantly lower amount of cuticle, waxes, and cuticle phenolics compared to ‘Manzanilla Cacereña’. Biomechanical analysis of the ‘Manzanilla de Sevilla’ cuticle showed that intracuticular waxes significantly increased the elastic modulus and reduced cuticle elongation whereas epicuticular wax removal did not seem to affect the biomechanical performance of the cuticle.
Publication
Authors
E. Domínguez, J.J. Benítez, P. Rallo, A. Heredia, M.R. Jiménez, L. Casanova, A. Morales-Sillero
Keywords
Olea europaea L., fruit damage, waxes, phenolics, biomechanical properties
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