The plant hormone ethylene is integral to plant life; it has many uses including breaking of seed dormancy, flower initiation, abscission of leaves and flowers, fruit and vegetable ripening, senescence as well as a response to stresses such as wounding, chilling, flooding, UV damage and rotting pathogens (Chang, 2016).

Chang, C. (2016). Q&A: How do plants respond to ethylene and what is its importance? BMC Biology, [online] 14(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-016-0230-0.

All vegetation produce and emit ethylene – a natural plant hormone; which reacts and binds with ethylene receptors within plant cells. In the case of fruits and vegetables, when this binding occurs the ethylene receptors will trigger numerous biochemical pathways associated with ripening – accelerating this process with increased exposure. This results in fresh produce developing flavour, taste, aroma, colour and texture; too much though leads to over-ripening and spoilage. As fruits and vegetables mature or become stressed, they produce and emit an increasing amount of ethylene. This results in higher ethylene concentrations which further increases the ethylene receptor binding rate. This issue is further compounded, because even if just one item of fresh produce is emitting ethylene, this will initiate ripening within and amongst surrounding fresh produce. Therefore, ethylene’s impact on fruits and vegetables heightens the riper they become eventually leading to rotting and spoilage (Chang, 2016).

Chang, C. (2016). Q&A: How do plants respond to ethylene and what is its importance? BMC Biology, [online] 14(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-016-0230-0.

Almost all, yes. The vast majority of fresh produce we buy today is sensitive to, and produces, ethylene to varying levels. Ethylene is also produced as a response to various stress factors (i.e., temperature, handling, damage etc.). Scientific research is constantly showing that produce previously thought to be unaffected by ethylene is, in fact, responsive to it with significant improvements in quality when this is managed correctly.

Unmanaged ethylene accumulates during storage, transit even within retail packs. This causes accelerated ripening and reduces shelf-life, for this reason ethylene was always seen as a problem to be eradicated. However, inhibiting ethylene receptors isn’t the answer either as this prevents the produce from fully developing – resulting in a poor eating experience for the consumer, high domestic waste and a negative impact on repeat purchase. Therefore, the key to striking the perfect balance is ethylene moderation; this provides all the benefits of natural ripening but in a controlled manner which alleviates time constraints (Tucker et al., 2017).

Tucker, G., Yin, X., Zhang, A., Wang, M., Zhu, Q., Liu, X., Xie, X., Chen, K. and Grierson, D. (2017). Ethylene and fruit softening. Food Quality and Safety, 1(4), pp.253–267. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/fqsafe/fyx024.