Critique of Fruits Dispersal and the Ripening Process

Critique of Fruits Dispersal and
the Ripening Process

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Critique of Fruits Dispersal
and the Ripening Process
Strayer University
SCI 115
Online Spring 2012
Felicia McCaw 
Critique of Fruits Dispersal
and the Ripening Process
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One of the interesting qualities in discovering whether fruit ripening affects all on an overall basis begins with the discovery that it causes a modification in texture and flavor because it is susceptible to necrotrophic pathogens. Disassembly of the major structural polysaccharides of each cell wall leads to ripening and fruit softening. Further as fruit ripens it increases its susceptibility to necotrophic pathogens and causes large economic loses of perishable horticultural products.
Ripening of fruits can cause a premature level of seed dispersal sometimes beforehand. A fruit that opens and releases seeds on a regular basis is called dehiscent and when the fruit does not open it is called indehiscent. When a fruit ripens and bursts open it literally throws or flings the seeds away or into the wind to spread them. Frugivores assists in the dispersal of seeds if they are not totally consumed. Fortunately, the ability to maintain dispersal of seeds is contributed by wind, ripening of fruits, birds, fish, tortoises, lizards, amphibians, mammals and humans that spread seeds more farther than they would otherwise would have been.
One of the questions that is frequently asked is why some fruits are sweet and some sour? The taste of a fruit depends on the compositional makeup of each category of fruit. Each fruit contains fructose, certain acids, victims, starch, proteins and cellulose when combined or mixed and relays flavor. The quantity of fructose is the deciding factor in whether a fruit is sweet or sour … lesser fructose means the fruit is sour and the higher the content means it is sweeter. Ripening of fruit also causes the levels of fructose or sugar levels to increase and become sweeter and because of the ripening process this may cause the skin of the fruit to change and

Critique of Fruits
and the Ripening Process
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metamorphose chlorophyll which is broken down and allows some new pigments to be made. The starches allow conversion into sugar and pectin to be softened and larger molecules are converted to smaller ones and allows the evaporation of aroma. Ethylene is a simple hydrocarbon gas produced in ripening fruits and interacts with genes to further the process of maturation of fruits. It is also produced by rapidly growing tissue (the tips of roots, flowers, ripening of fruit, damaged tissue). The acidity levels reflected in fruit also cause fruits to have a sour flavor. Some fruits that have no flavor have either been harvested too soon and are a product of early development or are over ripe and will start the seed dispersal process.
The seed uses fructose in its metabolized processes when the starch (polysaccharide) molecule has been hydrolysed (“digested”) into a simpler form. Further humans may interfere in this process by consuming grains and fruits and it may cause a deletion of seeds that otherwise would have germinated into plants, seedlings or otherwise. The process of harvesting fruit and grains for agricultural purposes of gaining seeds and seedlings enables the harvesting and planting of crops for worldwide distribution by farmers and consumers for gardening. Because of this process an interruption is caused in the cycle of restoring nature to its state of independence from man which does not allow the seed dispersal process to be continued in its usual routine. Further humans cause a disruption in the pattern of consumption of grains and fruits when entire sectors of land is utilized for non-agricultural purposes and no plant life is able to be grown or stabilized.


REFERENCE
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090826082411AAIT2Wt
Grit Rural American Know-How (2008). What Makes Fruit Ripen?
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http://www.grit.com/Garden/What-Makes-Fruit-Ripen.aspx?page=2

Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
(PNAS). (2008). The intersection between cell wall disassembly, ripening and
fruit susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea. Retrieved May 15, 2012, from

http://www.pnas.org/content/105/3/859.full

The Gemini Geek. (2012) Why Are Some Fruits Sweet While Others Are Sour?
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http://www.thegeminigeek.com/why-are-some-fruits-sweet-while-others-are-sour/

Bukisa. (2009). Why are Fruits Sweet and Sour?
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http://www.bukisa.com/articles/121780_why-are-fruits-sweet-and-sour

Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, Seed
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seed

Carlo, T.A., & Morales, J.M. (2008). Inequalities in fruit-removal and seed dispersal: consequences of bird behavior, neighborhood density and landscape aggregation. Journal of Ecology, 96(4), 609-618

(Carlo & Morales, 2008)

Howe, H.F. & Miriti, M.N. (2004). When Seed Dispersal Matters. BioScience, 54(7), 651-660

( Howe & Miriti, 2004)





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