Is there such as too much ethylene???

[Scikatz]

Hi all,

I was wondering why fruits and vegetables taste better when they allowed to ripen naturally rather than being gassed?

Thanks!

Lee

[carolinethorn]

Hi Lee,

This is a good question. It have various layers to it. First about why different people (producer, customer) might assess ripenees by different criteria.

This brings up the concepts of obejctive tests and subjective tests. Objective test are ones where the results is clear, usually it is quantitative (you can put a number on it), and does not vary based on who does the test. Taste is something very subjective - what may taste good to you may not taste good to someone else and is very hard to quantify.
Do you think food producers would use tests of ripeness that are objective and quantitative or subjective?

And second what are all of the factors that make up how ripeness can be judged. In you other post Chris raised some important points that are part of ripeness. Some of these our sense system can determine much more effectively that a method that measures the molecules involved. Our sense system is so advanced it can assess things without us even asking it a specific question - but a machine can only measure what it was designed to measure. Why might some assessments of ripeness measure some factors of ripeness and not others?

I hope this helps you to answer your own question.
Keep posting with your ideas.
Best of luck,
Caroline