Wax Information

Nature protects most plants, flowers, and fruits with a shield of natural wax. The layer of wax keeps in their supply of moisture and prevents damage to young plants from the sun’s rays.

The first man-made application of wax to fresh fruits and vegetables occurred on citrus, but the Chinese were experimenting with waxing processes as far back as the 12^th century.

The waxing process was invented in 1922 by a man named Brodgon, who later created Brogdex Co., in Pomona, California, now one of several firms providing natural source based waxes.

As it matures on the tree, an apple develops a coating of natural plant wax that has a protective function, mainly to minimize the loss of moisture and protect against decay organisms. While there is a cosmetic benefit, the principal function of the wax is to slow dehydration of the fruit. Many fruits are composed of 85 to 95 percent water.

On the tree, the apple picks up dust and dirt, so the first step before packaging is a thorough washing on the packaging line. The washing process includes soaking in water, scrubbing with soap and finally a thorough water rinse. This process removes some of the natural protective wax from the fruit so natural source wax is applied to restore nature’s own coating to the washed fruit. Without a coating, the fruit will quickly become soft, lose some of its juice content, and become unattractive. The amount of wax needed is small. One gallon of wax will polish and protect five to eight tons of apples!

There is no need to remove the wax from the skin before eating the fresh fruit or using it in recipes since the wax is an edible, natural source material but if you wish to avoid eating it, peel the fruit.

In addition to most apples – citrus, rutabagas, cucumbers, many tomatoes, melons, and sweet potatoes are waxed. Chocolate, candy, and pharmaceutical industries also utilize edible wax as protective coatings.

All waxes on edible products must be approved by, in Canada, Agri-Food Canada, and in the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.