Climacteric fruit continues to ripen after being picked, even while left sitting on your kitchen counter.
A long time ago in the city of Minsk, Turkey, there lived a poor man who had three beautiful daughters. The man could not afford dowries and was unable to find suitors for them.
Not having a dowry, the daughters’ fates were either to become spinsters or to be sold into servitude. A local bishop named Nicholas who had inherited some family funds was distributing his wealth among the needy.
Hearing about the plight of the girls, he placed gold coins in each of their stockings, which were hung to dry overnight by the fireplace. This gesture by Nicholas later became a tradition of placing treats and small gifts in children’s stockings or shoes on the feast of St. Nicholas.
However, it was the classic poem "The Night Before Christmas" that made hanging a stocking over the fireplace popular. And a popular treat to be found in the toe of those stockings on Christmas morning was an orange.
But why an orange?
First, the orange color serves as a substitute for gold in the story. Secondly, an orange is a non-climacteric fruit. Such fruits ripen completely when left on the plant before being picked. However, once picked, non-climacteric fruits stop ripening and slowly begin to degrade or rot.
This increased storage time and allowed for travel from warm climates during the Christmas season before the time of modern transportation. Fruits in this category include citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits and lemons, berries such as strawberry, cherry, raspberry, grapes, pineapples and some melons, including watermelon.
On the other hand, a climacteric fruit continues to ripen after being picked, even while left sitting on your kitchen counter. Such fruits include apple, pear, banana, peach, avocado, nectarine, blueberry, cantaloupe and tomato.
The reason a climacteric fruit continues to ripen is due to its ability to produce and release relatively large amounts of a gas hormone called ethylene. Ethylene initiates biochemical reactions in green fruits making the fruit softer and sweeter.
This is why placing two climacteric fruits in a bag (for example, a banana and an apple) hastens their ripening process. Placing a non-climacteric fruit in a bag with a climacteric fruit (orange and banana) will result in a better coloration of the non-climacteric fruit, but will do very little to initiate the biochemical ripening reactions.
Knowing the distinction between these two categories of fruits and when they ripen will help you choose the right fruit at the right time.
Frank Saus is a Master Gardener with Penn State Extension -- Beaver County.
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February 04, 2020 at 06:54AM
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