Ripening Chemicals, and the Fruit We Will Not Sell
Some mango, banana and papaya is coloured with calcium carbide so the skin looks ripe while the flesh is still hard. Carbide reacts with moisture and gives off acetylene. Industrial carbide can also carry arsenic and phosphorus impurities, which is why many countries ban it as a ripening agent. We do not buy fruit ripened that way, and we do not use ethephon sprays or ethylene gas rooms. The notes below are what shoppers actually run into.
Calcium Carbide Is Not a Food Additive
Traders sometimes pack carbide near green mangoes, bananas and papayas. The gas forces the skin to colour. A uniformly yellow fruit with almost no smell is the usual warning. India's food rules ban carbide for ripening. We do not stock fruit treated with it.
Ethephon Is Not the Same as Ripe Fruit
Ethylene is a gas fruit makes as it ripens. Ethephon is a chemical that breaks down into ethylene. Dipping fruit in an ethephon solution to force colour is a misuse regulators have warned against. Colour from a spray is not sugar that developed on the tree. We do not use ethephon.
What a Rinse Does, and What It Does Not
Washing under running water takes off dirt and some residue sitting on the skin. It does not pull out chemicals that have moved into the flesh. Peeling citrus, mango and apple skin removes that outer layer. We do not publish residue numbers from tests we have not run.
Wax and Fungicide on Imported Apples and Citrus
A thin food wax is common on apples, pears and oranges that travel by sea. It slows shrivelling. Some citrus coatings also include a fungicide so mould does not take the carton. If you eat the skin, wash it. Peeling removes most of that surface treatment.
What Naturally Ripened Means Here
It means the fruit coloured and sweetened on the plant, or kept ripening after harvest without carbide, ethephon or ethylene gas. We do not put a laboratory certificate on every lot. If a lot does not smell and eat like ripe fruit, it does not go on the van.
How to Spot Fruit That Was Forced to Colour
Look for even colour with a hard feel, and little aroma at the stem. Ripe mango and banana smell like themselves before they look perfect. A faint chemical smell is a reason to leave the fruit. We would rather sell fewer pieces than sell that.