The harm of ripening agents to human body

Ripening agents are now mostly used to ripen fruits. Ripening agents are generally used on off-season fruits on the market, or on fruits that need to be transported long distances. For example, bananas will not ripen in the northern climate and need to be transported long distances from the south, after which ripening agents will be used. Long-term consumption of this ripened fruit may cause precocious puberty in children. This article details the dangers of ripening agents, let’s take a look.

Which fruits have been ripened by agents?

Confused 1

What kind of fruits use ripening agents?

Food experts: Long-distance transport of fruits and off-season fruits generally require ripening agents

Fu Daqi is an associate professor at the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University. His research areas include the molecular mechanisms of fruit ripening and the post-harvest storage and preservation of fruits and vegetables. "The reason why fruits need to be ripened is mainly for long-distance transportation and storage." Fu Daqi said, for example, if bananas from Guangdong and Hainan are picked when they are ripe, they may have already rotted severely by the time they are shipped to Beijing. Therefore, bananas are generally picked when they are 60% to 70% ripe, and ripened with ripening agents before being shipped to Beijing for sale.

Ethylene is the "ripening agent" that can make fruits ripen. Fu Daqi introduced that the ripening process is to artificially apply ethylene gas or ethylene releaser (ethephon) to induce the fruit to start the ripening process. For the convenience of storage and transportation, ethylene gas is generally not used directly for artificial ripening. Instead, ethephon (a powdered chemical substance) is used. When it comes into contact with water and the pH value is greater than 4, it will automatically release ethylene to promote the ripening of the fruit.

Fu Daqi introduced that the fruits that use ripening agents are generally those that undergo mutation, such as bananas, mangoes, tomatoes, etc. These fruits are highly dependent on ethylene during the ripening process. Another type of non-climacteric fruit, such as citrus, grapes, strawberries, etc., has little to do with ethylene in its ripening and requires regulation by other mechanisms.

In addition, out-of-season fruits may also be treated with plant growth regulators to make the fruits mature earlier. Growth regulators are also similar to plant hormones, including gibberellins, cytokinins, naphthylacetic acid, chlorpyrifos, etc. "In fact, fruits themselves also produce this substance," said Fu Daqi. Confusion 2

Are ripening agents harmful to the human body?

Medical experts: No evidence linking premature fruit ripening to early puberty in children

Food experts: Plant hormones are not animal hormones and are harmless to the human body if added according to standards

Someone has made such an analogy: if eating ripened fruits can cause children to reach early puberty, then a woman walking among flowers may also become pregnant because of pollen. Although it is a bit exaggerated, it vividly illustrates that plant hormones are not animal hormones and will not have any effect on the human body.

Some medical experts say that parents do not need to worry that eating ripened fruits will lead to sexual maturity in children. Children's precocious puberty is regulated by sex hormones, but neither ethylene nor ethephon can exhibit sex hormone-like effects in the human body, nor can they participate in the synthesis of sex hormones. Wu Yujun, chief physician of the Endocrinology Department of Beijing Children's Hospital, said that there is currently no scientific evidence to show that precocious puberty in children is related to ripened fruits.

Fu Daqi said that the effects of the plant hormone ethylene in artificially ripened and naturally ripened fruits are the same. Eating naturally ripened fruits will not promote precocious puberty. By the same token, eating artificially ripened fruits will not cause precocious puberty in children.

Will the ethephon residues in fruits affect human health? Fu Daqi said that if used in accordance with national standards, food safety can be guaranteed.

The latest national standard "National Food Safety Standard Maximum Residue Limits of Pesticides in Food" (GB2763-2014) promulgated by the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture will be implemented this month. It stipulates that the allowable daily intake of ethephon is 0.05 mg per kilogram. The maximum residue levels in different fruits such as apples, cherries, blueberries, bananas, mangoes, and cantaloupes vary, with the lowest being 1 mg per kilogram and the highest being 20 mg per kilogram.

Fu Daqi said that fruit farmers generally do not use ethephon excessively because it will cause the fruit to mature too quickly, which is not conducive to sales. However, due to the different stages of maturity, naturally ripened fruits and artificially ripened fruits have differences in aroma, color, and nutrition, "but they are not harmful to the human body." Confusion 3

What causes precocious puberty in children?

Medical experts: Diseases and overnutrition can lead to early sexual maturity. Food scientists: Excessive intake of animal food can lead to early sexual puberty.

Precocious puberty refers to an abnormal development of secondary sexual characteristics in girls before the age of 8 and in boys before the age of 9, such as breast development, enlargement of the labia minora, enlargement of the uterus and ovaries, appearance of pubic hair, and menarche in women; and enlargement of the testicles and penis, appearance of pubic hair, development of muscles, and deepening of the voice in men. This is a common developmental abnormality of the pediatric endocrine system.

According to Wu Yuyun, judging from the number of outpatient visits, the number of children suffering from precocious puberty has been increasing in recent years. One of the main causes of precocious puberty in children is physiological diseases. For example, some brain tumors and other diseases can cause children to experience precocious puberty. In addition, precocious puberty is also related to factors such as environment and diet. For example, improper diet, excessive intake of estrogen or promoting estrogen secretion in the body

Secretion may lead to precocious puberty in girls. Wu Yuyun reminds parents that children should not eat tonic foods such as ginseng royal jelly, wolfberry, and astragalus, nor should they drink functional beverages for adults, otherwise they will suffer from precocious puberty in children.

Fan Zhihong, associate professor at the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering at China Agricultural University, said that the increase in animal food will promote sexual maturity. At present, with the increase in protein and fat intake, the physiological maturity time of teenagers is getting earlier and earlier. In our country, teenage girls who consume more animal foods usually reach sexual maturity about two years earlier than those who mainly eat plant foods. The same rule applies to all countries in the world: as long as you eat more fish, meat, eggs and milk, sexual maturity will be advanced by two or three years.