A bruise can only appear when there is circulation, right?
Then why do fruits and vegetables, especially bananas, develope brown spots/bruises when they get hit, even after they being desolidarized from their tree?
Is there still “circulation” in the fruit? Is it oxidation? Or a form of osmosis?
In: Biology
You are thinking of human bruises which are the leakage of blood from capillaries after being damaged. Fruit bruises are are the result of oxygen (allowed in by the damage) reacting with an enzyme in the fruit to cause the “browning”.
Well, at the most basic form it is just oxidation. Bruises happen when an enzyme called ‘polyphenoloxidase’ oxidises the phenolic compounds found in fruit tissue. So the phenolic compounds turn into brown spots (or ‘bruises’) because of oxidation. I don’t know if that made sense but enzyme oxides compounds basically. Sorry mine was a bit technical
It’s not the same bruise as what a person would get. It’s just called that because it looks sort of similar (discolouration and squishiness).
The impact of a fruit falling or getting poked hard damages the cells of the fruit. The damage to the cells leads to their fluids leaking out, which causes the squishy texture. The brown discolouration comes from those fluids then being oxidised when they come in contact with the oxygen in air. Normally they stay inside the cells, so no discolouration.
Bananas don’t oxidise as much as apples, say, but they’re softer, so they bruise easier and the softness turns squishy much faster.
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