Abstract
The effect of individual wax components, such as shellac and resin, and commercially available waxes on pitting incidence of white 'Marsh' grapefruit and 'Fallglo' tangerines was examined. In additional treatments, single wax components were diluted to increase fruit gas exchange without influencing fruit shine. The results show that postharvest peel pitting incidence was significantly reduced if white grapefruit were coated with a single component such as shellac (pitting incidence <2%) or resin (<3%) solutions compared to the commercial waxes (20-46%). By reducing the concentration of shellac or resin solutions, pitting was low (<3%). The shine was lower in diluted shellac and resin solutions compared to treatments with commercial waxes or shellac/resin solutions. There was no difference in fruit shine and weight loss among commercial waxes and resin solution. In the 'Fallglo' study, there was generally high pitting incidence in all wax treatments. The results of this study confirm that shellac/resin solutions could be used to control postharvest pitting in white grapefruit.
