Health-Determining Air Paths in Fruit Seen For the First Time

Researchers from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) have visualized air pathways in pears and apples for the first time. The team performed tomographic imaging of fruit samples. The powerful equipment produces 3-D images that are accurate down to and below 1/1000 of a millimeter, with sufficient contrast to separate out void spaces from cells. In apples, the pathways appear as irregular cavities between cells, whilst in pears they have the shape of tiny interconnected channels.

Apples and pears continue to “breathe” after picking. To keep the fruit healthy, a minimum level of oxygen must be supplied to all cells of the fruit. If this does not happen, internal browning disorders appear and fruit quality decreases. This is why fruit is stored in dedicated cool rooms with accurate control of oxygen levels. These results allow a better understanding of how the fruit degrades after harvest and provide a scientific explanation of the everyday experience that pears are more susceptible to decay during storage.

Read the complete press release at http://www.esrf.eu/news/general/fruit/.