The present work is based on the hypothesis that excessivehandling of plums has adverse effects on shelf-life by enhancingwater loss as dependent on surface structure and temperature.Since a new non-invasive, compact, affordably-priced technologybecame available in the packaging industry in 2012 to determinethe presence or partial or complete absence of plastic films, e.g.shrink wrap, using their glossiness, the objective was to examinewhether this technology may be suitable for measuring biologicalspecimens such as fruit surface features using the wax bloom ofplums as a model.