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The literature reports that oxidative degradation occurs when fruit ripen, prompting us to posit that oxidative degradation may affect the release and filtration of juice from the must.

With that vision, we studied the content and distribution of transition metals and phenolic compounds in two cider-apple varieties of contrasting firmness over two years of harvest. We used model solutions to assess the impact of these variations on the degradation of pectin, a key cell-wall polysaccharide that shapes the texture of fruit.

The in-sample ions and phenolic compounds were mapped at the SOLEIL synchrotron facility using fluorescence cryo-microscopy. Special-purpose low-temperature sample preparation and observation methods were developed to keep diffusion of these compounds contained.