I would have told him to grab the green ones instead. Yellow bananas go bad so fast. Two days after you buy em and they’re already mushy and weird tasting.
Bananas are the only item I focus on buying organic. The price difference is negligible. The artificially ripened ones (by ethylene gas) don't seem to slow down. While one has to wait a few days for the organic green ones to ripen a bit, they will last at least a week after that. Once a number of brown dots appear, put them in the refrigerator. Their skins will turn full black, but the insides stay fine. Doing this gives a full two weeks before they become too mushy.
Ethylene is naturally produced by fruit to stimulate ripening. The only thing un-natural about introducing it artificially is that it's not happening 'in nature'. If they didn't do this then many of the fruits we enjoy in northern climates would not be available to us. Organic bananas are picked green and then ripened this way, just like the non-organic ones. The "organic" label refers to how they are grown.
You are mixing truth with falsehood. You can prove this in your kitchen. But some green organic bananas. Wait until they turn yellow without brown spots. But some non-organic ones that are yellow without brown spots. Keep them completely separate (ripe produce can influence other produce). The non-organic ones will get mushy much faster. I am maintaining this only with bananas.
If they didn't do this then many of the fruits we enjoy in northern climates would not be available to us.
This is completely false and I have no idea exactly what you are trying to say. Why would ripening prior to shipping or during shipping give a different hemisphere access to off-season food? That doesn't make any sense. It sounds to me like the opposite. The more produce is ripened, the more at risk it is to bruising, mold, decay, and infestation.
Organic bananas are picked green and then ripened using ethylene gas, just like the non-organic ones.
This is false. What the hell are you saying? Obviously they are not ripened with ethylene gas because they are still green in the market.
The "organic" label refers to how they are grown.
Mostly true. Organic bananas are not hit with the ethylene gas process though, hence why they are green in the market.
If your organic bananas are green then I agree that it's possible they are not being ripened 'artificially'. They would have to be picked very green however AND the transit time to your market would have to be short. All fruits naturally produce ethylene gas so even green bananas will ripen on their own, especially since they are not treated otherwise with inhibitors. At least not to my knowledge but frankly the food industry plays so many games with the term organic that it's really hard to know exactly what you're getting.
The organic bananas in my market are ripe however. Sometimes they are a little green but nothing that a few days on my counter doesn't fix. Clearly mine have been ripened 'artificially'. To be clear I have no issue with the use of ethylene gas.
Non-organic bananas are dunked in a solution to further retard ripening before packing. Though I believe this is being replaced, or supplemented, by a sort of vacuum sealing.
Most (all?) tropical fruits are picked green and shipped by a variety of methods to their target markets (excepting of course when the target market is local). Shipment times can be up to a few months, not to mention delays of days or weeks are not unexpected. Regardless if they waited for the fruit to ripen before picking and shipping, or if the fruit ripened during transit, they would spoil long before they arrived. This is what I meant when I said the use of ethylene gas makes many fruits available to northern climates. Perhaps I should have qualified my statement by saying "widely and cheaply available".
For example I was in Mexico during the mango harvest. They are picked and packed green and are quite inedible. A few weeks later the mangos growing wild all ripened and there was a short window of time before they became over ripe and started falling off the trees. Meanwhile the packed mangos have been in cool storage and as required are artificially ripened and distributed to stores.
It's my understanding that certain fruits are routinely shipped by air, an example being strawberries. I assume it has something to do with a shorter shelf life that is harder to manage than for, say, bananas but I don't actually know.
After many times having bananas go mushy / rotten too quick, and vaguely recalling back in the 70s that I was pretty sure they lasted longer, I started looking into ... bananas. This is the sad state of modern society.
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WeekOne ago
Hahaha, the one guy that grabbed an armload of bananas!!
HappyMealBullshit ago
I would have told him to grab the green ones instead. Yellow bananas go bad so fast. Two days after you buy em and they’re already mushy and weird tasting.
gloam_lurker ago
Bananas are the only item I focus on buying organic. The price difference is negligible. The artificially ripened ones (by ethylene gas) don't seem to slow down. While one has to wait a few days for the organic green ones to ripen a bit, they will last at least a week after that. Once a number of brown dots appear, put them in the refrigerator. Their skins will turn full black, but the insides stay fine. Doing this gives a full two weeks before they become too mushy.
GoddammitMrNoodle ago
Ethylene is naturally produced by fruit to stimulate ripening. The only thing un-natural about introducing it artificially is that it's not happening 'in nature'. If they didn't do this then many of the fruits we enjoy in northern climates would not be available to us. Organic bananas are picked green and then ripened this way, just like the non-organic ones. The "organic" label refers to how they are grown.
gloam_lurker ago
You are mixing truth with falsehood. You can prove this in your kitchen. But some green organic bananas. Wait until they turn yellow without brown spots. But some non-organic ones that are yellow without brown spots. Keep them completely separate (ripe produce can influence other produce). The non-organic ones will get mushy much faster. I am maintaining this only with bananas.
This is completely false and I have no idea exactly what you are trying to say. Why would ripening prior to shipping or during shipping give a different hemisphere access to off-season food? That doesn't make any sense. It sounds to me like the opposite. The more produce is ripened, the more at risk it is to bruising, mold, decay, and infestation.
This is false. What the hell are you saying? Obviously they are not ripened with ethylene gas because they are still green in the market.
Mostly true. Organic bananas are not hit with the ethylene gas process though, hence why they are green in the market.
GoddammitMrNoodle ago
If your organic bananas are green then I agree that it's possible they are not being ripened 'artificially'. They would have to be picked very green however AND the transit time to your market would have to be short. All fruits naturally produce ethylene gas so even green bananas will ripen on their own, especially since they are not treated otherwise with inhibitors. At least not to my knowledge but frankly the food industry plays so many games with the term organic that it's really hard to know exactly what you're getting.
The organic bananas in my market are ripe however. Sometimes they are a little green but nothing that a few days on my counter doesn't fix. Clearly mine have been ripened 'artificially'. To be clear I have no issue with the use of ethylene gas.
Non-organic bananas are dunked in a solution to further retard ripening before packing. Though I believe this is being replaced, or supplemented, by a sort of vacuum sealing.
Most (all?) tropical fruits are picked green and shipped by a variety of methods to their target markets (excepting of course when the target market is local). Shipment times can be up to a few months, not to mention delays of days or weeks are not unexpected. Regardless if they waited for the fruit to ripen before picking and shipping, or if the fruit ripened during transit, they would spoil long before they arrived. This is what I meant when I said the use of ethylene gas makes many fruits available to northern climates. Perhaps I should have qualified my statement by saying "widely and cheaply available".
For example I was in Mexico during the mango harvest. They are picked and packed green and are quite inedible. A few weeks later the mangos growing wild all ripened and there was a short window of time before they became over ripe and started falling off the trees. Meanwhile the packed mangos have been in cool storage and as required are artificially ripened and distributed to stores.
It's my understanding that certain fruits are routinely shipped by air, an example being strawberries. I assume it has something to do with a shorter shelf life that is harder to manage than for, say, bananas but I don't actually know.
gloam_lurker ago
Well, this post I agree with 95%.
cosMICjester ago
Thanks for the tip I had no idea bananas were artificially ripened.
gloam_lurker ago
After many times having bananas go mushy / rotten too quick, and vaguely recalling back in the 70s that I was pretty sure they lasted longer, I started looking into ... bananas. This is the sad state of modern society.
FridayJones ago
I hate when the skin is black though.