Why Some Fruits Won’t Ripen On Your Counter

Trying to ripen some fruits on your kitchen counter is totally fruitless - here's why.

LEARN MORE
**************
To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
climacteric: a pattern of fruit ripening associated with increased ethylene production and a rise in cellular respiration (meaning that the fruit can ripen off the plant)
nonclimacteric: ripening that is not characterized by a peak of ethylene production or respiration (and must happen on the plant)

SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH
**************************
If you like what we do, you can help us!:
- Share this video with your friends and family
- Leave us a comment (we read them!)

CREDITS
*********
Kate Yoshida | Script Writer, Narrator and Director
Adam Thompson | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation
Nathaniel Schroeder | Music

MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC

OUR STAFF
************
Sarah Berman • Arcadi Garcia i Rius
David Goldenberg • Julián Gustavo Gómez
Melissa Hayes • Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich
Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida

OTHER CREDITS
*****************
Footage by Kate Yoshida:
- Fruits on counter
- Pineapple cut
- Grocery store fruits

Cherry photo by Khoa Ma

Orange photo by Adam Nieścioruk

Pineapple photo by Fernando Andrade

Apple photo by Adam Thompson

Banana photo by Moritz Kindler

Mango photo by Unsplash user triplemdesignz

OUR LINKS
************

REFERENCES
**************

[JonathanKayne]

The problem is that certain fruits also soften when they ripen so harvesters have to pick them early. This is one of the reasons that tomatoes that are fresh off the vine taste better than stuff at the store, among other things. (if they harvested the fruit at peak ripeness then it would crush itself during transport)

[zpinn]

"Why aren't all fruits cordless?" sounds like the start of a Vsauce video

[semoemo]

A general rule of thumb I learned studying fruit crops was "If it's starch based, it ripens off the plant. If it's acid (sour) based, it ripens on the plant". It seems the venn diagram supports this somewhat.

[Arikayx]

Many peppers will ripen from ethylene gas exposure as well, which means if you want your jalapenos to stay green, they need to be kept away from other ripening fruit. Or if you want some tasty and less spicy red jalapenos, sit them next to fruits or other red peppers.

[iris-needs-more-history-books]

So basically, some plants need the wire while others use Plant Bluetooth

[SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

"That's why trying to ripen a pineapple in my kitchen was...fruitless"
*slow claps*

[winsontam]

Whoa! No more waiting for blueberries to ripen!

[uEffects]

I just can't imagine how individually packaging every ingredient and shipping it to you individually could even theoretically be more sustainable than buying local, fresh and less packaged food that's only once delivered to the store for everyone to pick up with their bikes...

[Adaginy]

A pro-tip for pears, based on having had a pear tree:
A pear *on* the tree ripens from the inside out.
A pear *off* the tree ripens from the outside in.
So if you have a pear tree and pick a beautifully ripe fruit, you will find it overripe and rotten inside. And if you buy a beautifully ripe fruit at the grocery store, you might get the same thing. BUT if you buy/pick a hard pear, or a just baaarely soft at the tip pear, it can ripen on your counter (or in a bag with apples) and the middle will be fine.

[AverytheCubanAmerican]

This is simply karma for stealing SpongeBob's home from the ocean

[alarcon]

If you are wondering how to tell which pineapple is ready, try pulling on the innermost leaf. If it detaches easily then it’s good to go. 😊

[okanko]

That’s interesting. My pineapples do ripen by themselves, once green, they go gold-ish. My parents say it’s to do with the scent you can tell when it’s ready

[Tatosgr]

Can we get that image at 3:12 as a wallpaper, poster, or something? I would love to have it in my kitchen.

[blueberrychocolate]

The fruit is so cute! Also thanks for teaching me about how fruit ripens. I now know banana and apples ripen because they store up lots of starch that can be converted to sugars by ethylene.

[bazoo]

Re: mealkits - it would be interesting to see an episode comparing carbon footprint of meal kits compared to meals made from locally obtained ingredients. All this transport from afar makes me suspicious of their sustainability.

[brunoolas]

I usually buy pineapples by the bunch, normally of 3. I'm used to cutting one up to eat in a couple of days, while letting the others ripen more during the week.
Would it be better then to cut them all straight away and store in the fridge, since they are not getting more ripe, to prevent them from getting nasty?

Thank you for the video. Oh, and congratulations on the 10 years anniversary of the channel!

[rawrimadino_]

That was the best Hello Fresh sponsor I’ve ever heard. I was wary of meal kits for that exact reason too!

[sorchaOtwo]

Store your pineapples upside down, standing on their leaves as ripening usually starts at the bottom. I've had pretty good luck ith this method, but check them often, like avocados, they're peek is short.

[Pyromaniac]

I'd love to learn more about the efficiencies of meal kits! Personally I remain skeptical.

[TheRolexseller]

Why has almost every peach I’ve bought the past few years never gotten ripe ? Goes from hard to wrinkly