ripening process
Becoming ready naturally
The ripening process is the series of changes by which fruit or other produce matures—softening, sweetening, changing color, developing flavor.
The term applies literally to agriculture and food science: The ripening process can be accelerated with ethylene gas.
It extends to anything that develops gradually toward readiness: the ripening process of a young artist's talent.
- ethyleneSimplest alkene, C₂H₄
- skinBody's outer layer
- enzymesReaction-speeding proteins
- starch conversionPolysaccharide hydrolysis to sugars
- respirationGas exchange in organisms
sugar · climacteric · farmers market · window sill · scent · curing · organic acids · oxygen levels · overripe · fruit · carotenoids · temperature control · mellow · vine · maturing · cultivar · sweetening · soft spot
ripening processdecay
Gradual organic breakdown
decomposition · rotting · spoilage · putrefaction · degradation
ripening processimmaturity
Undeveloped condition
unripeness · greenness · underdevelopment · dormancy · arrested development
ripening processpreservation
Maintaining something's condition
refrigeration · cold storage · cryopreservation · freezing · pickling