Yum_Kaax: The reason for this is that the first few falling apples signal to the rest of the apples on the tree that it’s time to get ripe and fall. It is better for an apple tree to drop all of its apples at the same time than to wait for too long and run the risk of a frost killing the seeds/seedlings.
Toofast4yall: Did you think someone randomly came up with that saying?
Guest_1337: that picture is not really convincing
Crusty_Munge: Apples aren’t the only fruit that release ethylene.
main_germ: That’s why you cut up fruit and put it in a bag with fruit that’s not ready yet- it’ll make them ripe faster from the release of ethylene!
24Reference: The metaphor still works. Protect yourself from toxic people.
FalstaffsMind: What if everything Donny Osmond ever said was true?
NYScott: …eventually.
teejayyy816: If left for too long…it will ruin them all. I find rotten apples inside cases of either 72/80ct apples all the time and the entire box isn’t bad because of one.
bwxsf: TIL that squirrels can get drunk off of apples.
anfieldash: Cargo surveyor here. There are many fruits that are ethylene sensitive. This is why you should separate a lot of fruit to prevent premature ripening and spoiling. Often I notice people keeping their fruit wrapped in a bag and this will only exacerbate ripening and the fruit won’t last as long.
Black_Moons: Hu. I always thought it was because a spoiled apple was high in bacteria/fungus and the rotting, moist, bacteria/fungus filled mush would get on other apples and the moisture+bacteria/fungus would then start attacking the unspoiled flesh of the other apples.
Turmoil_Engage: Guess I’ll have to start keeping my apples in separate rooms now. Wife is gonna be really fucking confused.
Nebeason: Did you also know that the ethylene is the aging hormone for the plants? Wonder how you get perfectly rape bananas which are not squished into a paste? That’s because they collect only green and unripe fruits, spray them with ethylene and pack them up. The fruits mature during the shipment.
melvinscam: Oh wow, they should make that a saying or something
BastardOfTheNorth89: Had a chart in one kitchen I worked in. It told you what could and couldn’t sit next to another to prevent spoilage/odour. Quite a cool little bit of info.
perfectlycrispy: That’s why apples get a wax coating. Helps keep them fresh.
IBangedUrMomAndUrDad: And yet people still use the phrase “a few bad apples” to describe a few isolated cases in an otherwise upstanding group because it’s the same difference to people like that and they could care less.
ginger97520: Former food inspector here- It is important to keep certain fruits and veggies separated during storage. I had always understood apples to be ‘ethelyne sensitive’ and not to be stored near ethelyne producing goods such as bananas, etc.
chugsforhugs: Did you take any college biology class?
boop66: It’s not only the ethylene causing one bad apple to spoil the rest, it also has to do with the *exponential rate* at which pathogens multiply. Source: I’m a horticulturist by trade and education.
pseudocide759: That’s why I want Arctic Apples.
beautiful_bwoi: God damned cops
qbxk: see, we told you
quatraine: Fun fact: there’s a theory that an ethylene fissure beaneath the Temple at Delphi gave the oracle her visions.
Sympathy_for_the_FO: Apples: The suicide bomber of fruits.
HaniiPuppy: The same applies to bananas – in fact, rotten bananas are often included in batches of underripe bananas in order to ripen them.
ieatzapizza: , girl.
jessaly: But I’m still going to eat the bad apples.
cersei_and_jaime: True story, you can use the same trick with tomatoes to ripen green ones. Put one really ripe tomato in a paper bag with the green ones and they get ripe in about a week.
eternalexodus: I once met a woman named Ethylene. Her mom probably thought “ethyl is a real name and it’s pretty” and then added the -ene to make it unique. Strange.
stan4928: Yea can use this to your advantage though. Got avodacos or other friuts that aren’t ripe? Put them in a with some ripe or slightly past rip fruit and the unripe ones will rippen faster.
scoobydoobeydoo: Also a useful way to force a pineapple to fruit.
botcomking: I mean there’s a reason that saying exists.
Stinky_Fartface: My Mom told us not to put other fruit, especially bananas, next to apples because it will also hasten ripening of them too.
IveHadBlackFriends: Whoever wrote that article hopefully either is still in school or just learned English. The grammatical errors drove me crazy
peypeyy: The oracle of Delphi might have been high from inhaling ethylene that escaped earth through a fault.
ArentEnoughRocks: Is this the same for avocados? Bc I swear if theyre all together, they all go bad quick
Verypoorman: Well, the saying didn’t just come out thin air.
jh937hfiu3hrhv9: They will also accelerate rotting of other produce in your refrigerator, and help ripen green fruit and vegetables.
banned_by_rpolitics: Potassium permanganate (those fake apples for your fridge) slows spoilage by destroying ethylene. It is kept in proximity to produce; it doesn’t have to touch it.
[Source](http://www.townsendletter.com/Oct2005/noveldevice1005_firstversion.htm)
Toughcrowdd: Im surprised if you didnt know.
your_other_friend: Oh give it one more chance before you give up on love girl.
rainey832: that is indeed where the saying comes from
YouFeedTheFish: Put an apple next to your other fruits to ripen them more quickly.
SwatchQuatch: It’s nature’s suicide pact.
jmgs000: That’s incredible
xyrrus: So should I be separating my apples in the fridge if I want them fresh?
HotstudT: Ethylene also will make a pineapple start to fruit.
theatrocitiesown: See: cops
Swoopster117: Please tell me this is still taught in science class in high school…..
If not, I’m starting to understand why I see so much stuff on Reddit has me shaking my head….
CognitiveDissident7: I once found a rotten apple in the middle of a box of probably 100 apples and the rest were fine. Just sayin’