The hormone that helps ripen fruits is what?

• A. Ethylene Gas
• B. Auxin
• C. Gibberellin
• D. Cytokinin

Answer: (A)

Ripening in many fruits is controlled by a gaseous plant hormone. Ethylene acts as a signal that accelerates the ripening process, triggering changes like softness, color development, aroma, and the conversion of starches to sugars. This is why climacteric fruits such as apples, bananas, and tomatoes ripen more quickly when exposed to ethylene, whether it’s produced by the fruit itself or applied from an external source. Other plant hormones like auxin, gibberellin, and cytokinin influence different growth processes—auxin promotes cell elongation and organ development, gibberellin boosts stem growth and seed germination, and cytokinin drives cell division and can delay aging—but they do not drive the specific ripening changes in fruits the way ethylene does. In practice, controlling ethylene levels helps manage when fruit ripens, such as using a bag to trap the gas and speed up ripening or limiting exposure to delay it.