Post #401483 by The Gnomon on Fri, Aug 15, 2008 9:06 AM

I haven't tried them on pineapples yet, but in theory these things should have a beneficial effect.

Produce ripens and decays faster in the presence of ethylene gas, which is produced by the plants themselves. The ethylene production of a plant can range from very high to very low depending on the specific plant. Plants are also sensitive to ethylene from low to high. Regardless of overall sensitivity, certain plants are affected in other ways, often adversely.

A lot of produce that you find in stores, because it has to be picked when it is green and is less susceptible to bruising and damage, is forced to ripen faster after shipping by being ethylene gassed (tomatoes in particular). That's why tree-/vine-ripened local produce always tastes better. It's allowed to ripen naturally and retain its flavor. When stuff that's picked green ripens, it has never had the opportunity to fully develop its flavor.

Limes are very low ethylene producers with moderate sensitivity, but if you keep them in a bowl with apples, pears, avocados, passion fruits or other high and very high producers, the ethylene wreaks havoc on the lime skin.

Anyway...ethylene generally accelerates ripening and decay in fruits and vegetables, some quicker than others. These green bags absorb ethylene, so they slow the decay process.

I bought three lemons last December (which I don't use much over the winter) and put them in a green bag and stored them at room temperature. In February I needed two of them, so I checked the green bag to see how they were doing. They looked OK, so I used them. They were juicy and actually much better than lemons used right from the store. The other one I kept in the bag just to see how long it would last before it caved in. Unfortunately, I caved in before the lemon did. In the middle of May I tried it. It was just as good as its predecessors, but a little different. Not sure if it would be considered overripe but I don't think it would have lasted much longer.

A box of bags costs about $10. Up until recently, I only found them in BB&B, but I just bought another box at my local Giant Food.

Here's a link about ethylene gas. It has a chart listing over 100 produce items and a few live plants giving ethylene production and sensitivity for each. Although pineapples are low producers and have low sensitivity, ethylene induces flowering in them, which is a sign of ripening/maturity.

That makes the bags definitely worth trying.

Jeez! My misspellings are real words, so spell check can't save me either...

[ Edited by: The Gnomon 2008-08-15 09:10 ]