Ethylene…more than just a “gas”

“Climacteric fruit can ripen after being harvested and continue to develop to full physiological maturity when removed from the plant”

In the news you’ll hear of ethylene “gassing” of tropical fruits and tomatoes. Is ethylene a “gas”? Of course, just like water is a liquid (well, at room temperature). But when it comes to fruit ripening, describing ethylene as just a gas is very demeaning to such a powerful contributor to modern civilization!

Ethylene is a very beneficial natural plant hormone that enables us to enjoy avocados, bananas, tomatoes and more. Harvested in a green but physiologically mature state, these fruits (yes, a tomato is a fruit!) will naturally ripen when exposed to ethylene. With the right recipe in a ripening room (time, temperature, ventilation, humidity, airflow, ethylene), great tasting, ready-to-eat fruit is available to us year-round.

So is gassing the right terminology for this process? No, fruit is not “gassed,” but “ripened”. Ripening rooms, not gas rooms, are used. In these ripening rooms, the simple exposure of limited parts per million (ppm) of ethylene will promote these fruits to start their natural release of internal ethylene and begin their “ripening” process.

These types of mature green fruit are classified as climacteric…meaning what?

• They can ripen after being harvested and continue to develop to full physiological maturity when removed from the plant.

• They create their own ethylene.

• They respire and create carbon dioxide (thus the need to vent ripening rooms).

One of the greatest benefits of this process for these climacteric fruits is that harvest can take place before the fruit is soft and more susceptible to damage. This enables growers to ship long distances, retailers to have less shrink, and consumers to have a nice, ready-to-eat piece of fruit!

So don’t let the ethylene naysayers scare you with the word gas! Remember that this is a natural process with physiologically mature fruit. Ethylene is even allowed for the ripening of organic tropical fruit, more evidence of its natural existence. Ethylene and Fruit Ripening…useful and helpful contributors to modern civilization!