The Involvement of Calcium Ions in Maintenance of Apple Fruit Tissue 9

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Abstract
The hypothesis that the cell walls of apple fruit tissue are bound together by Ca2+ ions was tested by infiltration with other cations of similar size. Sr2+ and Ba2+ were as effective as Ca2+ in increasing the resistance of apple tissue to failure under tension while Mg2+, Sm3+, La3+ and Ce3+ were less effective. Infiltration with Ca2+ increased the tensile strength of tissue from air-stored apples to 85% of that of untreated CA-stored fruit. It was concluded that both movement of Ca2+ from the middle lamella and loss of its binding sites occurred during apple softening, with the movement of Ca2+ predominating and that these processes contribute to changes in tissue structure. Substitution of D2O for H2O in infiltration solutions did not affect the strength of tissue.