Most fruits taste sweet as they are
ripe… ripening is a natural process in
fruits that causes them to become more palatable.
Summer is the season for mangoes ~ and in summer when thre was increased demand for the tasty
fruit, health officials were busy
seizing artificially ripened mangoes. The implications of using the
cancer-causing calcium carbide to ripen the mangoes are many. But warnings and
raids hardly deterred the traders form
ripening ‘the king’ artificially, with most saying that they have no other way
to run their business. Some would even argue that this is the way trade had
been doing for decades… and that it is far too difficult to transport ripe
mangoes from distant places. So the farmers send only green mangoes and they are later ripened artificially.
It is stated that the mangoes never even come
in contact with the calcium carbide. The
calcium carbide stones are put in a
paper cover; stapled, these packets are
then kept under the unripe mangoes. Calcium
carbide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of Ca C2. Its main use
industrially is in the production ofacetylene and calcium cyanamide. The pure
material is colourless, however pieces of technical-grade calcium carbide are
grey or brown. The smell of technical-grade calcium carbide is
part of the process or production and is produced intentionally to be
unpleasant in larger concentrations, and noticeable in smaller ones, as a part
of warning system for unwanted leaks, fires or explosion.
Bananas are the most common, most selling
fruits in any market – they possess many good qualities, tasty, good for health
and more.. there are very many varieties like – Peyan, Poovan, Robusta, Dwarf
Cavendish, Grand Naine, Rasthali, Vayal vazhai, Nendran, Red Banana,
Karpooravalli and more. The popular varieties of bananas suitable for hilly
areas are Virupakshi, Sirumalai and Namarai. Red Banana, Manoranjitham
(Santhana vazhai) and Ladan are also cultivated in hills. Many varieties of
Kathali, a small sized tasty fruit is cultivated in Kerala.
In most varieties – the green one is before
they are ripe – can be eaten but may not taste sweet as a fruit…. Not in
bananas. Green banana is also a fruit, a
tasty one at that. It is - Morris or Robusta – the banana that retains its
green color even after ripening, it comes from a dwarf variety of banana
plants, cultivated throughout Kerala. Not many know that Morris, is
artificially ripened, but in a safe way.
Just as you read that mangoes are artificially
ripened and not good for health, ripened Morris is considered good as it is
done through the technology developed by the Trichy-based National Research
Centre for Banana in 2006 and is a rage among banana growers. According to its director, “Bananas naturally emit ethylene gas as they
ripen. The artificial ripening process involves storing the raw fruit at a
temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius and exposing it to ethylene gas. The
ethylene naturally present in the fruit is activated and the ripening process
is quickened,” he said. The bananas thus ripened are sold in retail markets.
In a bid to allay apprehension, the Food
Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had, in the year 2010,
clarified that the use of ethylene gas to ripen the fruit was safe. This was
decided in consultation with the ministry of agriculture. The banana variety,
which is sold for about Rs.5 a piece, is rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium
phosphorus and iron and is also a source of Vitamin A and C. It is stated that
farmers from all over the state, who cultivate the green banana, adopt this
technology as the demand in Chennai is more for this variety.
What is true of one need not be true
of the all other is the moral
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
5th Aug 2013.
Source acknowledgment for banana ripening : Times of India
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