Ethylene is the most widely produced organic chemical in the world, as well as a universal fruit and flower hormone. Flowers in bloom and ripening fruits emit ethylene, a signaling mechanism that helps fruits and flowers to communicate.
“The phrase ‘it takes one bad apple’ usually refers to one misbehaving person who spoils the party,” says Timothy Swager, a chemistry researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). But the idiom is actually based in truth. “One rotten apple can trigger other apples to rot. Its enzymes are upregulated to give off a lot of ethylene, which can cause rapid ripening and an increase in ethylene in the other fruit. If you want to impede ripening, you keep the ripe fruit away from less-ripe fruit.”
In fact, reducing the amount of ethylene a fruit is exposed to can make it last longer. According to recent estimates, more than half of a farm’s production may be lost as a result of various spoiling issues that occur as produce is transported from the farm to grocery stores.
Monitoring and battling ethylene production helps food producers and farmers manage the shelf life of certain fruits and prevent food spoilage and waste. Now, scientists at MIT have joined the fray by developing a...
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