• c10l@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    I can also say that bananas are quite yellow when ripe, without additives. Have had banana trees in 2 different houses, of 2 different banana varieties.

    • ByteJunk@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      I think I unintentionally blurred together two separate things.

      Citrus can be ripe and still be coloured green. Ethylene is used to make them orange, as they look more appealing to buyers that way.

      Green bananas on the other hand are just not ripe. Ethylene is still used here, but to “kickoff” the fruit’s ripening process - in just a few days it becomes yellow and ripe.

      There’s many things that release ethylene naturally when ripening, like tomatoes, apple, kiwi, … These need to be kept away from other sensitive produce (lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, …) as they’ll start looking “nasty” and lower their shelf life.