What does it mean when a fruit or vegetable ripens?

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What exactly are the chemical/biological changes that occur when a fruit ripens? And what’s different between it ripening on the counter (e.g.avocado) vs on a plant (e.g. green to red tomatoes)

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The purpose of a fruit is usually to appeal to animals, which will eat the fruit and poop out the seeds, spreading the seeds far away from the parent plant.

When fruits aren’t yet ripe, they are usually composed mostly of starch, which has lots of stored energy but isn’t tasty or digestible by animals. When the seeds are mature and ready to be dispersed, the starch in the fruit is converted into sugar, which is appealing to animals. Often the fruit will change color to signal to animals that it is ready to eat. Lots of sugar in the fruit makes it susceptible to mold and bacteria, which is usually what causes fruit to spoil. Having immature fruits made out of starch prevents mold and bacteria growth from killing the fruit, and also keeps the fruit from being eaten before the seeds are ready.

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