the science of sweet
In turn, ethylene prompts the development of plant
enzymes that change the chemical composition of the developing fruit from the inside out by:
► Converting starches to sugars
► Altering the pectin in cells to make fruit
softer and juicier
► Breaking down the acids that give unripe
fruit a sour or bitter taste
► Altering chlorophyll and stimulating pigment changes that
modify a fruit’s
color as
it ripens
Plants will often
have a set of
changing nutritional
requirements to meet
different developmental
milestones."
As important as ethylene gas is to
ripening in most plants, it doesn’t function alone. It depends on other initiating
or regulating chemical interactions to
operate effectively. For example, auxin
is a hormone mo