If fruit releases ethylene and that causes increased brownin

If fruit releases ethylene and that causes increased browning rate, will putting fruit in a polyethylene bag increase or decrease browning rate?

Solution

Ethylene (C2H4) is a Plant Hormone produced during Plant Metabolism which helps in ripening of fruits.

Though polyethylene (PE) bags are made up of ethylene monomers: (CH₂=CH₂), Linked together with a chemical bond to form long chains of ethylene Polymer (–(CH₂-CH₂)_n–) which makes ethylene inert, which means it can’t react with any biological material.

So Fruits preserved in Polyethylene bags will be fresh for longer time, browning rate will be reduced more.

There are many types of PE, like High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and so on, so out of these if one stores fruits in HDPE bags, browning rate will further reduce to some extent, as LDPE permits gas exchange while HDPE not.

Low temperature is also major factor which plays vital role in fruit storage, Lower the temperature lower will be the browning rate.

So the Conclusion is: Fruits stored in HDPE bags at 2^O to 8^O C will result in Lower Browning rate.