The Wax-Like Constituents of the Cuticle of the Cherry, Prunus Avium, L

Characterization of Cuticle Composition after Cold Storage of “Celeste” and “Somerset” Sweet Cherry Fruit

“…Triterpenes were the most abundant class of wax components in both cherry cultivars considered (Table ), with ursolic acid as the dominating compound (49% and 47% of total waxes at harvest for “Celeste” and “Somerset”, respectively). This is in accordance with an early report on “Bing” cherries . The prevalence of ursolic acid agrees as well with a more recent investigation in which cuticular wax composition was analyzed in four cherry cultivars (“Hedelfinger”, “Kordia”, “Sam”, and “Van”) during on-tree fruit development, although in that study the amount of triterpenes was found to account for up to 76% of total wax, which is higher than the levels observed in this work at harvest (55–57%).…”

“…Postharvest quality of fruit produce is greatly impacted by cuticle composition, structure, and properties (reviewed in ref ). Cuticles of sweet cherry fruit have been studied at commercial maturity and during on-tree development regarding their chemical composition, mechanical properties, and frequency and distribution of microcracks . However, no study has addressed the compositional changes in sweet cherry cuticles after harvest or during the refrigerated storage commonly used for its preservation.…”

A Focus on the Biosynthesis and Composition of Cuticle in Fruits

“…Specifically, cuticular waxes of 'Bing' cherries are rich in hexadecanoic, octadecanoic, octadecenoic, and octadecadienoic acids and contain significant amounts of sitosterol. 93 Because dehydrated fruit skins were used as the source of wax, when these compounds were not found in a later study, 3 it was concluded that their detection might have been an artifact derived from contamination with membrane lipids. However, the analysis of the cuticular waxes of 'Celeste' and 'Somerset' fruit also revealed significant contents of octadecadienoic acid and phytosterols, 94 despite the fact that enzymatically isolated cuticles were used as the source material for wax extraction.…”

“…Considerably more reports than for peach exist for sweet cherry cuticles, although most of them have been mainly concerned with its physical and mechanical properties as related to water permeability and disorders to which these fruit are particularly prone, such as cracking. An early study on ripe ‘Bing’ cherries revealed ursolic acid and n -nonacosane as prominent components of cuticular waxes of fruit. This was confirmed when the composition of both cutin and waxes of four sweet cherry cultivars was studied during on-tree fruit development and maturation .…”

“…Although these studies agree as to the major components of cuticular waxes in all of the cultivars assessed, they show discrepancies for other types of wax constituents. Specifically, cuticular waxes of ‘Bing’ cherries are rich in hexadecanoic, octadecanoic, octadecenoic, and octadecadienoic acids and contain significant amounts of sitosterol . Because dehydrated fruit skins were used as the source of wax, when these compounds were not found in a later study, it was concluded that their detection might have been an artifact derived from contamination with membrane lipids.…”