Ripening fruit

[Bubo]

I have recently got back into eating plums. When I had them before I usually just left them in the punnet and hoped they ripened by themselves, but more often than not half of them would stay hard and bitter regardless.

Now I realise you are supposed to accelerate ripening by putting them in a paper bag. Daft as it sounds, I don't have a ready supply of paper bags kicking about, so I was wondering, would an air tight tupperware container do or do they have to "breath"?

 

[Tuppy_Glossop]

Get them near overripe bananas, in a fruit bowl, paper bag, or tupperware. The bananas give off ethylene which stimulates other fruits to ripen.

 

[arknor]

I always stick my fruit near a sunny window the warmth will help them ripen

I hate supermarket fruit they are artificially ripened via ethylene rather than left to do it naturally which is why they don't taste ripe even if hey look it
it's true most if not all fruits give it off though.

 

[J-FRO]

Especially bananas, which is why I love that almost alcoholic smell and taste of bananas as they ripen.

 

[Maccapacca]

Coming back from holiday in the Med I can confirm all our supermarket fruit and veg is truly atrocious, the fruit and veg abroad was delicious, ripe and tasty and not all exactly the same size and shape.

Such a shame.

 

[Bubo]

I also read about the overripe banana tip. Do you think that the bananas mind sacrificing themselves so that other fruit may live?

 

[HazardO]

I also read about the overripe banana tip. Do you think that the bananas mind sacrificing themselves so that other fruit may live?

ethylene acts as a plant hormone, it is released in the banana to get the cells in the banana to start ripening and developing the seeds so that they will get scattered when the banana splits. They give off so much of the stuff that other fruit in the vicinity which also use ethylene as a ripening hormone are also induced to ripen.

 

[arknor]

warmth will break the sugars down faster than ethylene and give you a nice sweet ripe fruit

 

[Tuppy_Glossop]

warmth will break the sugars down faster than ethylene and give you a nice sweet ripe fruit

Strictly speaking, starch is broken down (hydrolysed) into sugars during ripening. There will be an upper limit on the temperature above which the ripening happens too quickly.

I found this website for OP http://ripening-fruit.com/home it even has a section on plums !

 

[pitchfork]

I also read about the overripe banana tip. Do you think that the bananas mind sacrificing themselves so that other fruit may live?

On the contrary, they kill other fruit.

Doesn't even need to be overipe, produce guys will tell you they have to be careful about placing healthy bananas.

 

[Fuggan]

Not 100% relevant but so funny!