iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Ripen

Enlarge picture
This lemon will turn yellow as it ripens.
Enlarge picture
Ripe lemons.


Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more edible. In general, a fruit becomes sweeter, less acidic, less green, and softer as it ripens.

The life stages of a plant are influenced by hormones. An important plant hormone involved with ripening is ethylene, a gas created by plants from the amino acid methionine. Ethylene increases the intracellular levels of certain enzymes in fruit and fresh-cut products, which include: Other enzymes break down the green pigment chlorophyll, which is replaced by blue, yellow, or red pigments.

Hormone levels in fruit are often connected to pollination. If too few seeds in a multiseeded fruit are formed (by fertilization of the ovules), the flesh of the fruit may not develop in some areas, and as a consequence ripening will be retarded or prevented. Fruit growers increasingly monitor seed ratios in developing and/or mature fruit and adjust pollination management accordingly.

Many fruits are picked prior to full ripening because ripened fruits do not ship well. For example, bananas are picked when green and artificially ripened after shipment by gassing them with ethylene.

Some fruits, such as persimmons, are eaten only after bletting, the fermenting process of decay after severe ripening.

SmartFresh, is a technology useful to maintain fresh-picked quality of whole fruits and vegetables. 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP 0.14%) works with the ripening process to dramatically slow down ethylene production and prevent over-ripening and problems associated with aging.

Iodine (I) can be used to check if the fruit is ripening or rotting by showing whether starch in the fruit has turned into sugar. For example, in an apple that has rotted (not bruised, just rotted) a drop of iodine on a slightly rotten part (not skin) will turn a dark blue or black color if there is starch there. If it stays yellow, then most of the starch did turn into sugar.

References

fruit has different meanings depending on context. In botany, a fruit is the ripened ovary—together with seeds—of a flowering plant. In many species, the fruit incorporates the ripened ovary and surrounding tissues.
..... Click the link for more information.
eating (formally, ingestion) is the process of consuming nutrition, i.e. food, for the purpose of providing for the nutritional needs of an animal, particularly their energy requirements and to grow.
..... Click the link for more information.
Sweetness is one of the five basic tastes, and is almost universally regarded as a pleasurable experience. Foods rich in simple carbohydrates such as sugar are those most commonly associated with sweetness, although there are other natural and artificial compounds that are much
..... Click the link for more information.
ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) is a set of properties that guarantee that database transactions are processed reliably. In the context of databases, a single logical operation on the data is called a transaction.
..... Click the link for more information.
hormone (from Greek όρμή - "to set in motion") is a chemical messenger that carries a signal from one cell (or group of cells) to another. All multicellular organisms produce hormones (including plants - see phytohormone).
..... Click the link for more information.
Plant hormones (also known as plant growth regulators (PGRs) and phytohormones) are chemicals that regulate a plant's growth. According to a standard animal definition, hormones are signal molecules produced at specific locations, that occur in very low
..... Click the link for more information.
Ethylene (or IUPAC name ethene) is the chemical compound with the formula C2H4. It is the simplest alkene. Because it contains a double bond, ethylene is called an unsaturated hydrocarbon or an olefin.
..... Click the link for more information.
Gas is one of the four major states of matter, consisting of freely moving atoms or molecules without a definite shape. Compared to the solid and liquid states of matter a gas has lower density and a lower viscosity.
..... Click the link for more information.
amino acid is a molecule that contains both amine and carboxyl functional groups. In biochemistry, this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula H2NCHRCOOH, where R is an organic substituent.
..... Click the link for more information.
Methionine (abbreviated as Met or M)[1] is an α-amino acid with the chemical formula HO2CCH(NH2)CH2CH2SCH3. This essential amino acid is classified as nonpolar.
..... Click the link for more information.
Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (i.e. accelerate) chemical reactions.[1] In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called substrates, and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products.
..... Click the link for more information.
Amylase is the name given to glycoside hydrolase enzymes that break down starch into glucose molecules. Amylase is also known as Ptyalin. Although the amylases are designated by different Greek letters, they all act on α-1,4-glycosidic bonds.
..... Click the link for more information.
Starch (CAS# 9005-25-8, chemical formula (C6H10O5)n,[1]) is a mixture of amylose and amylopectin (usually in 20:80 or 30:70 ratios).
..... Click the link for more information.
Sugars, brown
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 0 kcal   0 kJ

Carbohydrates     97.33 g
- Sugars  96.21 g
- Dietary fiber  0 g  
Fat 0 g
Protein 0 g
Water 1.77 g
Thiamin (Vit. B1)  0.
..... Click the link for more information.
Pectinase is a general term for enzymes that break down pectin, a polysaccharide substrate that is found in the cell walls of plants. One of the most studied and widely used commercial pectinases is polygalacturonase.
..... Click the link for more information.
Pectin, a white to light brown powder, is a heteropolysaccharide derived from the cell wall of higher terrestrial plants. It was first isolated and described in 1825 by Henri Braconnot[1].

It is mainly used in food as a gelling agent in jams and jellies.
..... Click the link for more information.
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colors.
..... Click the link for more information.
pigment is a material that changes the color of light it reflects as the result of selective color absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which the material itself emits light.
..... Click the link for more information.
Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Its name is derived from ancient Greek: chloros = green and phyllon = leaf.
..... Click the link for more information.
The term blue may refer to any of a number of similar colours. The sensation of blue is made by light having a spectrum dominated by energy in the wavelength range of about 440–490 nm.
..... Click the link for more information.
Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M (long- and medium-wavelength) cone cells of the retina about equally, but does not significantly stimulate the S
..... Click the link for more information.
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 625–750 nm.
..... Click the link for more information.
Pollination is an important step in the reproduction of seed plants: the transfer of pollen grains (male gametes) to the plant carpel, the structure that contains the ovule (female gamete).
..... Click the link for more information.
For other meanings of seed, see seed (disambiguation).


SEED

General
KISA
1998

Cipher detail
Key size(s):| 128 bits

Block size(s):| 128 bits
Nested Feistel network
16

SEED
..... Click the link for more information.
Fertilization (also known as conception, fecundation and syngamy), is fusion of gametes to form a new organism of the same species. In animals, the process involves a sperm fusing with an ovum, which eventually leads to the development of an embryo.
..... Click the link for more information.
Ovule literally means "small egg." In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: The integuments forming its outer layer, the nucellus
..... Click the link for more information.
BANANA (an acronym of Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything or possibly Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone
..... Click the link for more information.
Persimmon is any of a number of species of trees of the genus Diospyros, and the edible fruit borne by them. The word persimmon is derived from putchamin, pasiminan, or pessamin
..... Click the link for more information.
Bletting (or blet) is a process certain fleshy fruits undergo when, beyond ripening, they have started to decay and ferment. There are some fruits that are either considered at their best after some bletting, such as Nashi pear, or that can only be eaten after bletting, such
..... Click the link for more information.
Fermentation typically refers to the conversion of sugar to alcohol using yeast under anaerobic conditions. A more general definition of fermentation is the chemical conversion of carbohydrates into alcohols or acids.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter