"aem" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>
> hob wrote:
> > [snip]
> > Please cite the "authority" that states a pineapple does not ripen once
> > picked - (and please, not the Dole
> > marketing-of-canned-pineapple-you-can't-get-any-better-than-canned-BS
> > department pap put out for foppish haulis)
> >
> The lengthy quote below is from www.wholehealthmd.com, a reasonably
> reliable source about food (though they do not do a good job citing
> their sources of information): -aem

Thank you for the cite - I checked it out, and find they, like many websites
made by eager citizens with an opinion and unchecked by proper scientific
review, are in error.

Their theory is in direct conflict with University extension service
bulletins in my files, and in conflict with old experienced experts from the
U who taught me the various methods I use, and the websites theory is
refuted by my own experiences and practices as to ripening fruit.

The theory can be refuted by proper interpretation of plant theory and also
by a simple home experiment

1) I will hazard a guess as to why their theory fails in application and is
in conflict with Univcersity extension recommendations: it appears that they
locked onto a factoid and ignoring scientific or plant process, they
erroneously extended it, to wit

- they are indeed correct that once the stem is no longer attached to the
fruit, the plant cannot move ANY MORE sugar into the fruit.
However, their extension of that factoid into no further
ripenign/sugaring in the fruit erroneously assumes that sugar present in the
fruit when we eat it only comes from the stem, and it erroneously assumes
that the fruit cannot convert its own stored starch into sugar once it is
removed from the stem, and it erroneously assumes that there must be starch
in the stem to make sugar in the fruit.

They totally ignore/missed the plant's conversion of stored starch in the
fruit back into sugar and the usual mechanism of sugar-starch conversions in
the plant cycle.

Their error is in several parts -
First, the plant uses sunlight and nutrients to FIRST make readily
transported sugars in the earlier parts of the day, which are converted into
relatively locked-in-place starches in the roots and developing fruits
during the later parts of the day and evening. It is a daily cycle of
making transportable sugars and converting sugar into localized starch
deposits.
When it makes fruit, it deposits the starch in the cellulose matrix FROM
DAY ONE, in addition to bitter or sour repellents used to deter foraging
animals before the appropriate time. There is no sudden
"now-lets-put-sugar-into-the-fruit-cellulose-thru-the-stem" day on its
calendar.

Second, plants convert that reserve starch into useable sugar as is
needed. The unripened fruit is a matrix of celeulose and starch. When the
plant determines the time for attracting vectors for its propagation, it
converts the starch stored in the fruit matrix into sugar - it does NOT
start to deliver sugar to the fruit matrix and suddenly pump the fruit full
of sugar thru the stem.

2) the home test

Their claim is that neither melons nor pineapple will sweeten once picked.
Any farmer will tell you that they are flat out wrong.
Break a stem in a melon patch on almost any reasonable size of unripe
melon, and it will ripen in resposne to the stopping of flow of its
necessary sugar, converting its internal starch wholesale into sugar and
losing its chlorophyl as the daily sugar-starch cycle reverses.

Try the following as a home test using a muskmelon.

Pick two (or three to have an overripe melon) melons as identical as you can
get, that appear fully developed in size but have little or no melon odor on
the stem end (we want three just-green unripe melons here) .

Open and eat one immediately that day. Check its odor and sweetness
subjectively. Save some in the refrigerator.

Let the other two sit on the counter and check them daily, until the skin of
one just barely gives to the touch and the stem end smells of melon. Open
it and eat it and check its odor and sweetness subjectively against the
first melon. It will be much sweeter than the first. Save some in the
refrigerator.

Let the last one sit until the sides start to dent in. Open it and eat it
and check its odor and sweetness subjectively.

Now take out all three melon's parts and taste them all, and determine for
yourself if the melon got sweeter as the internal stored starch in the melon
converted back into sugar, or if they are all the same sweetness because the
fruit was cut off from any further infusion of sugar thru the stem once
removed from the stem

>
> "Once the fruit has been harvested, it won't get any sweeter,

This is patently not correct - it it rue that it will not receive any more
sugar thru the stem, but that does not stop its internal starch from being
converted to sugar in an autonomus reversal of the sugar-starch cycle,
making it sweeter.


so
> growers ripen pineapples on the plant to a point where they are almost
> fully ripe, with a high sugar content and plenty of juice. (If too
> ripe, the fruit may spoil before it gets to market.) After harvesting,
> the pineapples are shipped as quickly as possible, arriving within two
> to three days.
>
> "Because a picked pineapple will only get older but will never develop
> more sweetness or juiciness, most of the traditional tricks for judging
> its "ripeness" are unreliable. For example, don't bother trying to
> judge the fruit by its color: the skin of a pineapple that was picked
> before it was ripe may in fact turn a lovely golden yellow, but the
> fruit on the inside will be just as unsweet as it was when picked. The
> same goes for other methods--thumping it to test its "soundness" or
> pulling a crown leaf to see how loose it is. These will only be a guide
> to the age, not to the sweetness of the fruit within.
>
> "Your best guide to "ripeness" is a label or tag indicating that the
> pineapple was jet-shipped from Hawaii. These pineapples are more likely
> to be in prime condition (and also more expensive) than those brought
> in by truck or boat from Latin America. In addition, because pineapples
> brought in from Central America have a longer journey, they are often
> picked too green, which means they may be fibrous and not very sweet.
>
> "One relatively reliable guide to a pineapple's goodness is its
> fragrance (though if the fruit is cold, the aroma may not be apparent).
> Sniff it at the stem end."
>