High-resolution visualization of pore network structure of intact fruit for multiscale gas transport models

The internal pore network of fruit is the main pathway to exchange respiratory gases, affecting flavor, texture, and storage. Understanding the relation between pore network microstructure and gas exchange is valuable for establishing relationships for fruit quality during growth, ripening, and storage. The resolution of laboratory X-ray CT was insufficient to study anisotropic diffusivity across whole fruits, required to understand local metabolism. Here, fruit microstructure will be visualized through high-resolution synchrotron CT to reveal the connectivity of air spaces in porous fruit tissue and calculate the diffusivity tensor map accounting for local microstructure. This information will aid in our development and validation of multiscale gas transport models. Finally, we will elucidate the heterogeneity of microstructure, connectivity, and diffusivity, in relation to metabolic activity and gas gradients inside fruit and respiration during maturation, ripening and storage.