Ethylene is a hydrocarbon which has the formula C2H4 or H2C=CH2. It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene.
A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree Mangifera indica. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. M. indica has been cultivated in South and Southeast Asia since ancient times resulting in two types of modern mango cultivars: the "Indian type" and the "Southeast Asian type". Other species in the genus Mangifera also produce edible fruits that are also called "mangoes", the majority of which are found in the Malesian ecoregion.
An accessory fruit is a fruit that contains tissue derived from plant parts other than the ovary. In other words, the flesh of the fruit develops not from the floral ovary, but from some adjacent tissue exterior to the carpel. As a general rule, the accessory fruit is a combination of several floral organs, including the ovary. In contrast, true fruit forms exclusively from the ovary of the flower.
The persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros. The most widely cultivated of these is the kaki persimmon, Diospyros kaki – Diospyros is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-persimmon species of the genus are grown for ebony timber. In 2022, China produced 77% of the world total of persimmons.
Plant hormones are signal molecules, produced within plants, that occur in extremely low concentrations. Plant hormones control all aspects of plant growth and development, including embryogenesis, the regulation of organ size, pathogen defense, stress tolerance and reproductive development. Unlike in animals each plant cell is capable of producing hormones. Went and Thimann coined the term "phytohormone" and used it in the title of their 1937 book.
Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more palatable. In general, fruit becomes sweeter, less green, and softer as it ripens. Even though the acidity of fruit increases as it ripens, the higher acidity level does not make the fruit seem tarter. This effect is attributed to the Brix-Acid Ratio. Climacteric fruits ripen after harvesting and so some fruits for market are picked green.
Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants.
Cyclopropene is an organic compound with the formula C3H4. It is the simplest cycloalkene. Because the ring is highly strained, cyclopropene is difficult to prepare and highly reactive. This colorless gas has been the subject for many fundamental studies of bonding and reactivity. It does not occur naturally, but derivatives are known in some fatty acids. Derivatives of cyclopropene are used commercially to control ripening of some fruit.
Methyl jasmonate is a volatile organic compound used in plant defense and many diverse developmental pathways such as seed germination, root growth, flowering, fruit ripening, and senescence. Methyl jasmonate is derived from jasmonic acid and the reaction is catalyzed by S-adenosyl-L-methionine:jasmonic acid carboxyl methyltransferase.
Phenoxy herbicides are two families of chemicals that have been developed as commercially important herbicides, widely used in agriculture. They share the part structure of phenoxyacetic acid.
Ethephon is a plant growth regulator.
SmartFresh is a brand of a synthetic produce quality enhancer containing 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP). It is marketed by AgroFresh Solutions, Inc., a publicly held (NASDAQ:AGFS) U.S. company with global operations. SmartFresh technology halts the fruits and vegetables' natural ripening process to prolong freshness.
Hexobarbital or hexobarbitone, sold both in acid and sodium salt forms as Citopan, Evipan, and Tobinal, is a barbiturate derivative having hypnotic and sedative effects. It was used in the 1940s and 1950s as an agent for inducing anesthesia for surgery, as well as a rapid-acting, short-lasting hypnotic for general use, and has a relatively fast onset of effects and short duration of action. Modern barbiturates have largely supplanted the use of hexobarbital as an anesthetic, as they allow for better control of the depth of anesthesia. Hexobarbital is still used in some scientific research.
The enzyme aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthase catalyzes the synthesis of 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), a precursor for ethylene, from S-Adenosyl methionine, an intermediate in the Yang cycle and activated methyl cycle and a useful molecule for methyl transfer:
Generally, fleshy fruits can be divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of a respiratory increase at the onset of ripening. This respiratory increase—which is preceded, or accompanied, by a rise in ethylene—is called a climacteric, and there are marked differences in the development of climacteric and non-climacteric fruits. Climacteric fruit can be either monocots or dicots and the ripening of these fruits can still be achieved even if the fruit has been harvested at the end of their growth period. Non-climacteric fruits ripen without ethylene and respiration bursts, the ripening process is slower, and for the most part they will not be able to ripen if the fruit is not attached to the parent plant. Examples of climacteric fruits include apples, bananas, melons, apricots, tomatoes, as well as most stone fruits. Non-climacteric fruits on the other hand include citrus fruits, grapes, and strawberries Essentially, a key difference between climacteric and non-climacteric fruits is that climacteric fruits continue to ripen following their harvest, whereas non-climacteric fruits do not. The accumulation of starch over the early stages of climacteric fruit development may be a key issue, as starch can be converted to sugars after harvest.
A genetically modified tomato, or transgenic tomato, is a tomato that has had its genes modified, using genetic engineering. The first trial genetically modified food was a tomato engineered to have a longer shelf life, which was on the market briefly beginning on May 21, 1994. The first direct consumption tomato was approved in Japan in 2021. Primary work is focused on developing tomatoes with new traits like increased resistance to pests or environmental stresses. Other projects aim to enrich tomatoes with substances that may offer health benefits or be more nutritious. As well as aiming to produce novel crops, scientists produce genetically modified tomatoes to understand the function of genes naturally present in tomatoes.
Early twenty-first century pesticide research has focused on developing molecules that combine low use rates and that are more selective, safer, resistance-breaking and cost-effective. Obstacles include increasing pesticide resistance and an increasingly stringent regulatory environment.
Gaseous signaling molecules are gaseous molecules that are either synthesized internally (endogenously) in the organism, tissue or cell or are received by the organism, tissue or cell from outside and that are used to transmit chemical signals which induce certain physiological or biochemical changes in the organism, tissue or cell. The term is applied to, for example, oxygen, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, methane, hydrogen, ethylene, etc.
Ethylene (CH
2=CH
2) is an unsaturated hydrocarbon gas (alkene) acting as a naturally occurring plant hormone. It is the simplest alkene gas and is the first gas known to act as hormone. It acts at trace levels throughout the life of the plant by stimulating or regulating the ripening of fruit, the opening of flowers, the abscission (or shedding) of leaves and, in aquatic and semi-aquatic species, promoting the 'escape' from submergence by means of rapid elongation of stems or leaves. This escape response is particularly important in rice farming. Commercial fruit-ripening rooms use "catalytic generators" to make ethylene gas from a liquid supply of ethanol. Typically, a gassing level of 500 to 2,000 ppm is used, for 24 to 48 hours. Care must be taken to control carbon dioxide levels in ripening rooms when gassing, as high temperature ripening (20 °C; 68 °F) has been seen to produce CO2 levels of 10% in 24 hours.
Sylvia Blankenship is an American horticulturalist and inventor. She is an emeritus professor at North Carolina State University. She identified 1-methylcyclopropene, a compound which extends the storage life of fruits. Blakenship was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2020.
