Fruits are ready to eat when they are fully ripe. However, have we wondered what causes fruit to ripen? Under natural conditions, a gaseous plant hormone called ethylene is released by the plant, triggering the production of enzymes responsible for fruit ripening. During ripening, fruits tend to change from green to other colours, including purple, orange, and blue because the chlorophyll pigment is broken down and other pigments tend to accumulate in the fruit.
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The level of ethylene production varies for different fruits and in some fruits, the level of ethylene production tends to increase during ripening, whereas in some fruits the increase in the level of ethylene production does not affect the ripening. However, in both types of fruit, exposure to external ethylene can cause ripening. Ethylene gas is capable of spreading to nearby fruits and causes an increase in ripening and ethylene production in nearby fruits. Unripe fruits do not taste sweet but the riper the fruits become, the sweeter they taste. This is because, during ripening, the breakdown of starch in the fruits increases leading to an increase in the number of sugars as well as the acidity of the fruits decreases. However, overexposure to ethylene causes the fruits to overripe and
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