New Label Shows When Fruit Is Ripe

Dekaner writes "New Scientist has an article about a new 'smart' label developed in New Zealand changes color as fruit inside the package with it ripens. The label is designed to stop customers squeezing the fruit to tell if it is ripe enough to eat. The first packages to be tested contain pears, which need to be soft before they are eaten. If the labels prove effective with pears, the research institute in New Zealand will develop versions that work with kiwi fruit, avocados and melons."

Comments

perhaps...

[mOoZik]

So now instead of covering the fruits in wax or other substances to make them appear more attractive, they'll simply forge the labels to feign ripeness.

Nature did it already

[AtariAmarok]

There is already a label that appears on fruit when it is ripe. It is called a fruitfly.

Re:One Small Problem...

[dev0n]

Some do, yes.. others do not. Pears, for example. Or kiwis. Or mangos. Or papaya. Or melons.

Bananas are just about the only fruit I can think of that you can tell accurately tell ripeness based on color. There's probably more than that, but my point is that color is not a good indication of ripeness for most fruits. :)

that's a good idea

[theMerovingian]

And not too hard to implement. You would need a substance that changes color in the presence of ethylene (the plant hormone that encourages ripening).

I am guessing that they are putting some chlorophyll (a simple sugar produced by most plants/green algae) onto a sticker. Ethylene causes the sugar to break down, changing chlorophyll (the reason plants are green) to some other simpler sugar (which would show a different color).

Re:that's a good idea

[grondu]

chlorophyll (a simple sugar

Chlorophyll is not a sugar. It is a porphyrin derivative called a chlorin. Here is the structure.

Just cant see this being a hit with certain people

[hookedup]

At least for a couple more years anyway....

When I go for groceries, and the wife has asked me to pick up some sort of vegetables/fruits, this little sticker would be a blessing. Now say if my mother/grandmother were to go, i'm sure she would disregard the sticker, and squeeze the fruit regardless, because that's what they've been doing for years and years of cooking. For our 'packaged food is better food' generation, this may work, but for the older 'cook from scratch' generation, I just cant see it being a big hit.

melons

[nycsubway]

You should always be able to squeeze melons. Theres nothing wrong with squeezing them, you need to be able to tell if it's firm but soft. Too soft isn't good.

A label will never be able to replace the feel of squeezing a melon.
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Re:One Small Problem...

[DerekLyons]

Doesn't the fruit itself change color as it ripens?

Yes, but the processes run in parallel and are asynchronous. (A fruit may reach full color, but not be fully ripe, or it may be fully ripe, but not fully colored.) Commercial fruit growers/packers take advantage of this by exposing the fruit to gases that speed color changes, even when the actual ripening is far from complete. This makes it cheaper for them, as they can pick whole trees at once, rather than fruit-by-fruit, and unripe fruit is less likely to be damaged in transit. However, since very few fruits actually ripen off of the tree, the consumer gets something that looks like a real ripe fruit, but is actually anything but.

Stickers on fruit suck.

[The_Terminalator]

I think this is a response to consumer complaints regarding the current practice of stickering fruit with its product code. I can't ever seem to get those stickers off without bruising the fruit.

Years ago a friend of mine was moving up from bag boy to checker at a supermarket, he had to memorize all the codes for fruits and vegtables and pass a test. Now a checker reads the code off a sticker, shifting the burden to the consumer.

I don't think the color change adds enough value to balance the annoyance of removing a sticker from every piece of fruit you buy.

They're approaching this from the wrong direction

[Strange Ranger]

Does the label also tell us when the fruit is over ripe and too squishy to eat? That's the biggest reason I squeeze produce, I'm looking for rottenness, bruises and damage. If it's not ripe enough no big deal, I'll set it on my window sill until it is ripe. But getting a squishy piece of rotten fruit I think is what most people are trying to avoid.

For the most part grocery stores don't have a problem with getting produce to market too early. More the opposite, when the produce is too old and it pains them to throw it out at a loss.

Unfortunately something tells me that stores wouldn't be very interested in a sticker that turned into a Mr. Yuck when the fruit went bad.

Re:Just cant see this being a hit with certain peo

[Red Rocket]

...but for the older 'cook from scratch' generation, I just cant see it being a big hit.

Don't worry. The new Medicare bill will take care of those trouble-makers.

Re:Just cant see this being a hit with certain peo

[hurtstotouchfire]

I wouldn't buy fruit or veggies without touching them. I check apples for firmness, smell carrots, sueeze and smell peppers, taste the end of celery, wiggle the stems of artichokes, etc. That's just how a smart consumer/cook buys produce.

That's disturbing. Now not only do I know that my food has been sniffed and squeezed (or licked apparently in the case of celery), but that description in general was horrifying reminiscent of foreplay.