Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 exptools; site ihuxl.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!ihnp4!ihuxl!essachs From: essachs@ihuxl.UUCP (Ed Sachs) Newsgroups: net.consumers Subject: Re: Null statements... (gas-ripened tomatoes) Message-ID: <1595@ihuxl.UUCP> Date: Mon, 15-Jul-85 10:04:07 EDT Article-I.D.: ihuxl.1595 Posted: Mon Jul 15 10:04:07 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 05:49:37 EDT References: <2995@decwrl.UUCP> <26900024@uiucdcsb> <8831@ritcv.UUCP> <167@magic.ARPA> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 18 > VINE-GROWN TOMATOES is of course content-free but VINE-RIPENED is > very significant! If you don't see this mention, it might well be > the case that the tomatoes were "GAS-RIPENED" that is, picked when > hard and green, refrigerated for months, and then made red by being > treated with a certain gas, whose name escapes me right now. It goes > without saying that the result has no taste. > > - Andrei The gas is ethylene (C2H4 for any chemists out there). It is a gas naturally produced by ripening fruit, and does speed the ripening processes when artificially applied. That's why fruit ripens faster when enclosed in a paper bag -- the bag holds the ethylene in. -- Ed Sachs AT&T Bell Laboratories Naperville, IL ihnp4!ihuxl!essachs