Nicht-destruktive Bestimmung der Beduftung bzw. des Duftfilmes bei Pflaumen

During their ontogeny, a range of fruits develop a semi-transparent white coating on their surface, designated as wax bloom. This wax bloom was examined non-destructively on plums of different colour i.e. blue mature European plum, yellow mirabelle and greengage using a colourimeter and an industrial luster sensor at 15 mm distance from the fruit surface; the results are displayed as ‘luster levels’. European plums contained 175–205 µg epicuticular wax cm^?2 fruit surface with linoleic and ursolic acid as predominant fatty acids. The microscopic examination identified the epicuticular fine structure of the fruit surface as platelets viz with natural wax. Polishing with a soft tissue disturbed this fine structure and doubled the luster levels relative to the natural surface from 120–170 to 300–500 arbitrary units. This is related to wax re-distribution and restructuring rather than loss of epicuticular wax. Polishing increased the a value marginally from 2.35 to 2.85, whereas the b values almost tripled from ? 14 to ? 5, representing a more intense blue impression after polishing. This luster or glossiness measurement enables a clear identification of the natural wax coating versus a polished fruit surface irrespective of the respective fruit colour, i.e. blue plum, yellow mirabelle or greengage and hence seems more suitable than colour measurement. It hence seems plausible that fruit with a similar natural wax bloom like grape berry or blueberry etc. might respond similarly and could be used as a hand-hand device or on a sorting line for fast, online and affordable detection of the glossiness of a commodity.