Table 2.
A summary of reported changes in cuticle properties after harvest and in response to post-harvest procedures.
| Botanical family | Fruit type | Ripening type | Cultivar | Treatment | Effects on cuticle | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rosaceae | ||||||
| Apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) | Pome | Climacteric | ‘Sturmer’ | 9 months at 3°C | No changes in wax coverage or composition | Morice and Shortland, 1973 |
| ‘Granny Smith’ and ‘Dougherty’ | 9 months at 3°C | Increase in total waxes and fatty acids | ||||
| ‘Elstar’ and ‘Elshof’ | 2% O2 and <1% CO2 at 1°C for 8 months | Changes in wax properties and chemical composition, especially during shelf life. Increased wax ester hydrolysis with storage | Veraverbeke et al., 2001 | |||
| ‘Jonagold’ and ‘Jonagored’ | 1% O2 and 2.5% CO2 at 1°C for 8 months | Hydrolysis of the ester fraction, with increased relative concentration of nonacosane and nonacosan-10-ol | ||||
| ‘Autumn Gold,’ ‘Royal Gala’ |
1 μL L-1 1-MCP (18 h at -1°C) + 6 months at -1°C | Delayed development of some wax constituents in 1-MCP-treated fruit | Curry, 2008 | |||
| ‘Red Fuji’ | 7 months at 0°C | Sharp decrease in n-alkane and total wax levels | Dong et al., 2012 | |||
| 1 μL L-1 1-MCP (24 h at 0°C) + 7 months at 0°C | Attenuated changes in particular wax compounds in treated fruits compared to controls | |||||
| ‘Starkrimson’ | 180 days at 0–1°C | Moderate, steady increase in surface wax density | Li et al., 2017, 2019 | |||
| 500 mg L-1 ethephon + 180 days at 0–1°C | Increases in total waxes, alcohols, olefins, n-alkanes, fatty acids, and esters compared to controls. Increased wax density and accelerated wax crystal melting. Higher expression level of genes involved in VLCFA and alcohol synthesis. | |||||
| 1 μL L-1 1-MCP + 180 days at 0–1°C | Inhibited increase in ester content compared to controls. Delayed wax density and wax crystal melting. Lower expression level of genes involved in VLCFA and alcohol synthesis in comparison to the controls. | |||||
| Sweet cherry (Prunus avium (L.) L.) | Drupe | Non-climacteric | ‘Somerset’ | 3 days at 20°C | No significant differences in cuticle yields | Belge et al., 2014a |
| ‘Celeste’ | 3 days at 20°C | 70% increase in cuticle loads. Increased triterpene and n-alkane amounts. | ||||
| ‘Somerset’ and ‘Celeste’ | 14 days at 0°C | Increases in total cuticle load and cutin content per surface unit. Cultivar-related differences in the evolution of compound types. | ||||
| ‘Hongdeng’ | 30 mM BABA (20°C, 10 min) + 5 days at 20°C | Smoother cuticle and more integrated structure of subepidermal cells in treated fruit | Wang et al., 2015 | |||
| Peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch) | Drupe | Climacteric | ‘October Sun’ (melting) | 5 days at 20°C | No significant differences in cuticle yields | Belge et al., 2014b |
| 14 days at 0°C + 0/5 days at 20°C | Significant increase in total cuticle amount 0 and 5 days after cold storage. No difference in wax coverage upon removal from cold storage but noticeable increase after shelf life at 20°C. Significant augment in cutin loads after cold storage but no changes thereafter. Strong inhibition of PpLipase, PpLACS1, and PpCER1 gene expression. | Belge et al., 2019 | ||||
| 30 kPa CO2 for 48 h + 14 days at 0°C | Similar total wax coverage, but lower acyclic to cyclic ratio in treated fruit due to differences in the relative contents of particular wax families. Higher total cutin amounts compared to controls. | |||||
| Hot air (50°C, 45 min) + 14 days at 0°C | Higher cuticle amounts than the controls. Higher wax content but lower acyclic to cyclic ratios due to altered percentages of triterpenes, phytosterols, and fatty acids. Lower cutin amounts upon removal at day 0 after storage, but no differences with the controls after 5 days at 20°C. | |||||
| ‘Jesca’ (non-melting) | 5 days at 20°C | 25% increase in total cuticle, wax and cutin loads. Increased triterpene and n-alkane amounts. | Belge et al., 2014b | |||
| ‘October Sun’ and ‘Jesca’ | 1 mM MeJa (20°C, 3 min) | Substantial, cultivar-specific differences in total cuticle per surface area after cold storage. | Graell et al., 2018 | |||
| Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa (Duchesne ex Weston) Duchesne ex Rozier) | Etaerio | Non-climacteric | ‘Camarosa’ | PL pulses (2.4-47.8 J cm-2) + 8 days at 6°C | Well-defined layer of epicuticular waxes comparedto controls | Duarte-Molina et al., 2016 |
| Asian pear (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehder; Pyrus sinkiangensis T.T.Yu.) | Pome | Climacteric | ‘Kuerle,’ ‘Xuehua,’ ‘Yuluxiang’ |
7 months at 3°C | Decreased in total cuticular wax. Glossier wax crystal structures. Cultivar-related differences in change dynamics for different compound types. Concomitant modifications in the expression level of a range of cuticle-related genes. | Wu et al., 2017 |
| Solanaceae | ||||||
| Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) | Berry | Climacteric | ‘Ailsa Craig’ | 9 days at 20°C | Increased content of total waxes, n-alkanes, n-alkadienes, and amyrins Increased yield stress, decreased extensibility | Saladié et al., 2007 |
| Rutaceae | ||||||
| Orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) | Hesperidium | Non-climacteric | ‘Navelate’ | 3 weeks at 22°C | No changes in soft epicuticular waxes | Cajuste et al., 2010 |
| 2 μL L-1 ethylene | Higher wax contents, lower incidence of cracking, peel pitting, and fungal rots | |||||
| ‘Bingtang’ | 40 days at 4 or 25°C | Decreased total cutin content, but unchanged percentages of the different monomer types. Lower intracuticular wax content after storage at 4°C compared to 25°C. | Ding et al., 2018 | |||
| Ebenaceae | ||||||
| Persimmon (Diospyros kaki L.f.) | Berry | Climacteric | ‘Fupingjianshi’ and ‘Ganmaokui’ | 12 days at 20°C | No differences in cuticle thickness, increased number or depth of microcracks | Meng et al., 2017 |
| Anacardiaceae | ||||||
| Mango (Mangifera indica L.) | Drupe | Climacteric | ‘Keitt’ | 18 days at 20°C | Continuous, substantial cuticle deposition | Tafolla-Arellano et al., 2017 |
| ‘Kent,’ ‘Tommy Atkins,’ ‘Manila,’ ‘Ataúlfo,’ ‘Criollo,’ ‘Manililla’ |
15 days at room temperature | Increased cuticle and wax deposition, with genotype-related differences well-correlated to storage potential | Camacho-Vázquez et al., 2019 | |||
| Cucurbitaceae | ||||||
| Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.) | Pepo | Non-climacteric | ‘Sinatra’ and ‘Natura’ | 14 days at 4°C | Lowered expression level of genes of the fatty acid elongase complex | Carvajal et al., 2018 |
| Ericaceae | ||||||
| Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) | Berry | Climacteric | ‘Legacy’ and ‘Brighwell’ | 30 days at 4°C | Decrease in total wax content. Cultivar-specific variations in change dynamics | Chu et al., 2018 |