Ethylene Gas – What is it ?

All fruit and vegetables have a hormone called ethylene which is responsible for controlling the ageing and ripening process.  This hormone (ethylene) is released as a gas by fruit and vegetables as the produce is maturing.
Exposure of fruit and vegetables to even small amounts of this ethylene gas will cause accelerated ripening and decay. This is because the ethylene gas sends metabolic signals to fruit and vegetables that are exposed to it to age and ripen more rapidly.

Domestic Refrigerators Are An Ethylene Trap

Despite what white good manufacturers might like us to think, domestic refrigerators are not an ideal environment for fresh produce.  Not only is it difficult to ensure adequate humidity levels for your produce, but the enclosed space and limited airflow of your refrigerator vegetable drawer creates an ethylene trap that allows ethylene gas to build up. Whilst the build up in concentrations of ethylene gas are not harmful to people, they are deadly to your fresh produce.

When tested by university researchers in Australia more than 80% of domestic refrigerators were found to have ethylene levels that were significantly damaging to fresh produce, causing up to a 50% loss in fresh storage life.