Research project ripe for fruit quality breakthrough

It is one of life's little disappointments: that piece of fruit so fresh in the grocery store turns soft and withered in only a few days, and an anticipated snack ends up as garbage instead. Multiply that scenario millions of times and add with it all the fruit grocers discard before it's ever sold, and those many minor disappointments suddenly become a very real and expensive waste of food and resources. Previous research by plant scientists identified the hydrophobic cellular surface layer known as the cuticle as a prime factor influencing water retention in fleshy fruits. Now, a new College of Agriculture and Life Sciences project plans to study the structure of the cuticle at a resolution never before realized, using the tomato as a model. The three-year project will identify the specific cuticle components and the structural and regulatory pathways that mediate their biosynthesis and deposition, answering fundamental questions that may ultimately improve quality and extend the shelf life of harvested fruit. Little is known about how cuticle structure affects its function despite its importance as a barrier to fruit desiccation and the over-softening, tissue collapse and microbial infection that results. The collection of waxes covering and embedded in the layer are thought to be primarily responsible for water retention and critical for preserving fruit quality, said Jocelyn Rose , a professor of plant biology and director of Cornell's Institute of Biotechnology.