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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