The Ultimate Fruit Ripening Guide

Summer is the season when a large variety of fruits are in season. Naturally ripened fruits are sweet and delicious to eat, but some fruits are picked at about 70-80% ripeness to facilitate long-distance transportation! What should you do if you buy some fruits from a fruit stand that aren't fully ripe? How can you ripen fruit? Let's quickly learn about these essential fruit-ripening skills that foodies must know!

How to Ripen Fruit

Mid-summer is a great time for eating fruit! Fruits from all over the country are readily available. To facilitate transportation, some fruits are often picked before they are fully ripe! So, for foodies who want to eat fresh, sweet, and juicy fruits, besides waiting for them to ripen naturally, what other methods can speed up the process and get them to your bowl? Let's find out how to ripen fruit!

Butterless Banana Bread

Method 1: The Rice Ripening Method

Use regular rice and bury the fruit you want to ripen in it. Generally, after about 5 days, the fruit will be fully ripe. You can adjust the time based on the fruit's initial ripeness.

Method 2: The Fruit-to-Fruit Ripening Method

Apples and bananas both produce a significant amount of ethylene. Therefore, placing them together with the fruit you want to ripen—whether it's pears, persimmons, mangoes, or kiwis—and storing them in a bag can have a certain "ripening effect".

Which Fruits Have a Ripening Effect?

You should know that the secret to ripening fruit lies in using fruits that release ethylene to ripen unripe fruit! So, which fruits have a ripening effect?

During their natural ripening process, climacteric fruits like bananas, persimmons, apples, and kiwis release a small amount of ethylene to ripen the fruit itself. Therefore, storing them with other ethylene-producing fruits can also cause them to soften and ripen prematurely.

Persimmon Cookies

In addition, damaging the fruit can also promote ethylene release. Making some minor, insignificant wounds on the fruit (for example, on the stem), or placing a bruised apple directly in the bag, may also help speed up their ripening and softening.

Does Ripening Fruit Reduce Its Nutritional Value?

Fruit ripening is a very controversial practice. Proponents mostly believe that the ethylene used does not harm our health and allows us to enjoy the deliciousness of fruit sooner. Opponents, however, claim that ethylene-ripened fruit leads to a loss of nutritional value. So, does ripening fruit reduce its nutritional content?

Kiwi Smoothie

For fruit ripened with agents, the color of the fruit's surface can change, but the fruit's intrinsic quality does not change. Fruits ripened with ripening agents have uneven color, low sugar content, and don't taste like fruit, with less juice and water. Therefore, they do not achieve the rich nutrition that fruit should have.

Is it Safe to Eat Fruit Ripened with Agents?

Some more delicate fruits, such as bananas, mangoes, and kiwis, are prone to spoilage. If they were transported only after being fully ripe, they might be rotten by the time they reach their destination. So, in order for us to be able to eat these fruits, they must be picked before they are ripe. Ripening them often requires ripening agents—ethylene. So, is it safe to eat fruit ripened with agents? Many mothers worry that ripened fruit contains hormones that will affect their children's health if eaten in large quantities. Is this an unnecessary concern?

Mango Pudding

In fact, only a small amount of ethylene is needed to achieve a ripening effect, and it will not affect the body. Furthermore, ethylene is a plant hormone that only ripens fruit. The hormones that affect human development are those in the human body; these are two completely different concepts. It is harmless to the human body. You can eat it with confidence, although the nutritional value of ripened fruit may not be as high as that of naturally ripened fruit!