Speeding up the ripening process

[Salsify]

Can somebody please tell me again what to do to speed up the ripening of fruits. I remember something like putting a green banana in a paper bag with a cut apple or something. How and why does it work. Thanks

[Sunshine9]

Yep exactly! To ripen bananas put them in a paper bag with an apple or two, and then close it tightly with little air. I always do this with mine and they're usually ready in 1-2 days, depending on how green they were to begin with. I'm not sure about other fruits... I know that to ripen an avocado you put it in a paper bag with a ripe banana. I tried that and it worked quickly.

[MoniDew]

yeah, that's the idea, put a non-ripe piece of fruit in with a ripe one, they'll "breathe" eachother's air - the ethylene gas from the ripe one helps ripen the other.

[exurb]

Yes, apples are very good at giving off ethelene gas which ripens other fruits. This is why to not store apples with your carrots or potatoes.

A great tip is for buying avocadoes, instead of buying the ones that are totally ripe and soft in the store, buy one that is less ripe, take it home and put it in a bag with an apple or two. That way, you don't get flaws in the meat, bruises, etc., you get a perfect avocado. They're generally not picked ripe from the trees anyway, so there's no disadvantage in buying one that needs to ripen a little at home.

If anyone's like me here and likes to buy local produce in season and put it to store, a great way to keep a bushel of apples is to wrap each apple in newsprint, paper, tissue paper, whatever, then they keep much longer as they don't ethelene each other. I'm still happily eating local pesticide free apples from September.

P.S. Salsify, don't cut the apple. Just put it in whole.

[Cecilia]

Avocados are actually the only fruit that ripen AFTER they have been picked. So the fresher the avocado, the less ripe it will be.

[Rawkinlocs]

Thanks for those tips, Exurb!

BTW, did you receive my PM? :D


Yes, apples are very good at giving off ethelene gas which ripens other fruits. This is why to not store apples with your carrots or potatoes.

A great tip is for buying avocadoes, instead of buying the ones that are totally ripe and soft in the store, buy one that is less ripe, take it home and put it in a bag with an apple or two. That way, you don't get flaws in the meat, bruises, etc., you get a perfect avocado. They're generally not picked ripe from the trees anyway, so there's no disadvantage in buying one that needs to ripen a little at home.

If anyone's like me here and likes to buy local produce in season and put it to store, a great way to keep a bushel of apples is to wrap each apple in newsprint, paper, tissue paper, whatever, then they keep much longer as they don't ethelene each other. I'm still happily eating local pesticide free apples from September.

P.S. Salsify, don't cut the apple. Just put it in whole.

[JennaBoBenna]

For tropical fruit you can put them on the window sill so they receive a good amount of sun and that will help :) might work with other fruit too...