Wax coating were applied to citrus fruits in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but nobody knows that the full function of edible coating was to slow down respiratory gas exchange.
Wax coatings did not attain commercial use in storage of perishable produce including apples and pears until the 1930s.
Various waxes have been sprayed on the surface of fruits and vegetables as forms of hot melt wax or emulsions.
Hot melt paraffin waxes have been used to coat citrus fruits in the United States since the 1930s, and carnauba wax and oil in water emulsion have been used for coating fresh fruits and vegetables since the 1950s.
Currently, edible coatings are widely used on whole fruits, such as apples, pears, oranges, lemons, and grapefruits, to reduce water loss, improve appearance by imparting sheen to the food surface, provide a carrier for fungicides or growth regulators, and create a barrier to gas exchange between the commodity and external atmosphere.
Wax for edible coating in history
