Thread: fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables ripen much faster when they are left in a plastic bag in the fridge.
Why is that?
I just experienced this with a tomato... Is it the same for all fruits and vegetables?

Fruit release a gas called ethene (C2H4) which acts as a chemical messager causing other fruit to ripen. When you seal some fruit in a plastic gas you prevent this gas from dissipating, therefore the concentration rises and the fruit ripens very quickly.

Bananas in particular release lots of ethene, this is why you should be careful not to put ripe bananas near other fruit. They may cause them to ripen before you are ready to eat them!

Humans often pick fruit under ripe so that it can be transported anywhere in the world. Once there it can be given a quick blast of synthetically created ethene gas to ripen it up nicely for sale.

Tomatoes are picked green. In some mechanized situations the entire plant is pulled out and stripped of its tomatoes. The green tomatoes are given the ethene treatment to ripen.

Would it be better for a fruit to be eaten where it is picked ripe from tree or picked before it ripen? Does it change any chemical or nutrient properties if picked ripe or unripe?