Cucumbers cell wall structure

This paper will give a brief background on textural investigations of cucumbers and cucumber products. Recent work on the structure of cucumber cell walls and initial efforts to determine texture/structure relationships will then be reviewed. 

These observations have led to efforts to develop a better understanding of the structure of cucumber cell walls and the role that calcium ions play in improving texture. The cucumber cell wall contains about 30% cellulose ( ), 15% pectin ( ), and noncellulosic neutral sugars (, 2, . Other than glucose,... 

Demethylation of pectin has been the most obvious change observed in cell wall structure, both in the chilling injury of fresh cucumbers ( 7, 29) and during fermentation ( ). Bell et al. (30) showed that cucumber plants contain pectinesterase in all parts of the plant, including the fruit. As part of a series of studies of chilling injury in cucumber fruits, Fukushima and Yamazaki (29) found that a decrease in hot, water-soluble, high... 

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