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["Brungardt, Sam" <Sam.Brungardt@state.mn.us>]

Title: Scientist invents sunscreen for fruit

Scientist invents sunscreen for fruit
March 22, 2005
Associated Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. -- A Washington State University scientist has invented sunscreen for apples.
Larry Schrader is a research professor at the Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center in Wenatchee.  His invention is called Raynox, because it knocks the sun's rays.

It's a waxy liquid made from Carnauba wax, a natural ultraviolet B blocker, found on leaves of Carnauba palm trees in northern Brazil.  Sprayed on apples, it reduces sunburn by an average of 50 percent.

Schrader found that apple cells die when the surface of the fruit reaches 126 degrees.  The damage causes the apples to be rejected as culls.

He estimates eight to 10 percent of Washington's apple crop has been lost every year to sunburn.