PROCED
URE
1) Nick/Bruise the
skin of the apples.
2) Put apples in
separate bags
3) Place 1 banana, 1
tomato and 1 pear in
a bag with an apple
4) Place 1 banana, 1
tomato and 1 pear in
3 separate bags by
themselves
5) Seal the bags and
place out of sunlight
6) Place remaining
banana, tomato and
pear on the table
near the others
7) Over the next
four weeks, record
observations every
Sunday
CONCLUSION
The ethylene gas from
the bruised fruit caused
the fruit beside it to ripen
faster. The fruit by itself
that did not have a
bruised apple did not
ripen as fast.
One bad apple
DOES NOT spoil
the barrel, but
instead makes the
other fruit ripen
faster!
WHAT I
LEARNED
I learned that the
saying ‘one bad apple
spoils the barrel’ is
based upon the effect
of one fruit ripening
giving off a gas that
accelerates the
ripening!
I also learned that my
family needs to throw
away bad fruit
if they don't want the
others
around it to also go
bad!
RESEARC
H
Fruit lets out a gas called
ethylene
when it has been
damaged or is overripe.
The gas is naturally
occurring.
The gas is not always a
bad thing. The Ancient
Egyptians used to
damage figs on purpose
to make the others grow
faster!
Some produce factories
in the United States use
ethylene to make fruit
ripen faster to sell in our
grocery stores!
BEFORE
(Week 1)
AFTER
(Week 4)
Why Does Food Rot?
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-does-food-rot/
Fruit ripening gas - ethylene
http://www.frontlineservices.com.au/Frontline_Services/Fruit_ripenin
g_gas_-_ethylene.html
Does One Bad Apple Really Spoil the Whole Bunch?
http://mentalfloss.com/article/31666/does-one-bad-apple-reallyspoil-whole-bunch
Ethylene: The Ripening Hormone
http://postharvest.tfrec.wsu.edu/pages/PC2000F