Unravelling the potential of beeswax: A comprehensive investigation into its compositional insights, functional attributes, and fuit quality preservation
{"title":"Unravelling the potential of beeswax: A comprehensive investigation into its compositional insights, functional attributes, and fuit quality preservation","authors":"Pasham Sahithi-Reddy, Sunpreet Kaur, Parmpal Singh Gill, Sukhjit Kaur Jawandha, Kashish Bajaj","doi":"10.1007/s11694-025-03391-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The rising demand for sustainable methods to extend the shelf life of perishable goods underscores the importance of edible coatings. Beeswax (BW), a natural substance produced by honeybees, has garnered significant attention in the food industry due to its unique properties and potential as an edible coating for the preservation of fresh fruits. This article explores the chemical composition, physical properties, and environmental advantages of beeswax, with a particular focus on its applications as a coating material. This review delves into the attributes of BW, which form a protective layer capable of modulating metabolic pathways involved in respiration and ethylene biosynthesis. Various underlying mechanisms behind the efficiency of BW-based coatings, with their amorphous solid structure and rich composition of fatty alcohols, are highlighted. Additionally, BW shows promise in addressing key challenges in postharvest handling, such as microbial spoilage and enzymatic browning. Studies showcasing the use of BW in composite biopolymer-based coatings demonstrate enhanced functionality, due to the improvement of viscoelastic properties. The review also explores the application of BW in retaining antioxidants and preserving flavor profiles and sensory attributes by regulating acid metabolism.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":631,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization","volume":"19 9","pages":"6193 - 6206"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11694-025-03391-7","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The rising demand for sustainable methods to extend the shelf life of perishable goods underscores the importance of edible coatings. Beeswax (BW), a natural substance produced by honeybees, has garnered significant attention in the food industry due to its unique properties and potential as an edible coating for the preservation of fresh fruits. This article explores the chemical composition, physical properties, and environmental advantages of beeswax, with a particular focus on its applications as a coating material. This review delves into the attributes of BW, which form a protective layer capable of modulating metabolic pathways involved in respiration and ethylene biosynthesis. Various underlying mechanisms behind the efficiency of BW-based coatings, with their amorphous solid structure and rich composition of fatty alcohols, are highlighted. Additionally, BW shows promise in addressing key challenges in postharvest handling, such as microbial spoilage and enzymatic browning. Studies showcasing the use of BW in composite biopolymer-based coatings demonstrate enhanced functionality, due to the improvement of viscoelastic properties. The review also explores the application of BW in retaining antioxidants and preserving flavor profiles and sensory attributes by regulating acid metabolism.
期刊介绍:
This interdisciplinary journal publishes new measurement results, characteristic properties, differentiating patterns, measurement methods and procedures for such purposes as food process innovation, product development, quality control, and safety assurance.
The journal encompasses all topics related to food property measurement and characterization, including all types of measured properties of food and food materials, features and patterns, measurement principles and techniques, development and evaluation of technologies, novel uses and applications, and industrial implementation of systems and procedures.