What is ethylene?? what effect does it have on bananas? how does it cause ripening of fruits?

Question

please help me... i have to peform an experiment and answer these questions...!!

Answer 1

Ethylene is a plant hormone which causes fruits to ripen and can be transmitted via air. This is why literally 'one bad apple' can spoil an orchard.

Wikipedia lists some side effects of it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene#Et...

List of Plant Responses to Ethylene

Seedling triple response, thickening and shortening of hypocotyl with pronounced apical hook. This is thought to be a seedling's reaction to an obstacle in the soil such a stone, allowing it to push past the obstruction.

In pollination, when the pollen reaches the stigma, the precursor of the ethylene, ACC, is secreted to the petal, the ACC releases ethylene with ACC oxidase.

Stimulates leaf and flower senescence

Stimulates senescence of mature xylem cells in preparation for plant use

Inhibits shoot growth except in some habitually flooded plants like rice

Induces leaf abscission

Induces seed germination

Induces root hair growth – increasing the efficiency of water and mineral absorption

Induces the growth of adventitious roots during flooding

Stimulates epinasty – leaf petiole grows out, leaf hangs down and curls into itself

Stimulates fruit ripening

Induces a climacteric rise in respiration in some fruit which causes a release of additional ethylene. This can be the one bad apple in a barrel spoiling the rest phenomenon.

Affects neighboring individuals

Disease/wounding resistance

Inhibits stem growth outside of seedling stage

Stimulates stem and cell broadening and lateral branch growth also outside of seedling stage

Synthesis is stimulated by auxin and maybe cytokinin as well

Ethylene levels are decreased by light

The flooding of roots stimulates the production of ACC which travels through the xylem to the stem and leaves where it is converted to the gas

Interference with auxin transport (with high auxin concentrations)

Inhibits stomatal closing except in some water plants or habitually flooded ones such as some rice varieties, where the opposite occurs (conserving CO2 and O2)

Where ethylene induces stomatal closing, it also induces stem elongation

Induces flowering in pineapples

[edit] Commercial Issues

Answer 2

Ethylene (or Ethene, which is more scientifically correct) is a chemical that encourages the break down of fruits and vegetables. It is created as a by product of rotting fruit and also catylizes (encourages) further production of ethene, thereby increasing rate of rotting.

Because Ethene has a low boiling point it can easily evaporate and then precipitate on other fruit, thereby making other fruit rotten faster than usual.

This is why you should always remove rotten fruit and vegetables from your fridge, and try and keep different fruits apart.