Why do ripe fruits – especially when canned – smell bad?
Expert: Kristin – 6/11/2007 Question QUESTION: Hi: I notice that many fruits [excluding apples] emit foul odors when ripe. What chemicals are responsible for this? I’ve done as much research as I can on this but not gotten anywhere. This isn’t a homework assignment. I am asking these questions out of personal interest. I hate those odors. That why I like to eat apricots, peaches, and similar fruits when they are sour, hard, and greenish. When sour, hard, and greenish, most fruits smell pleasant. When they are too ripe, they become excessively sweet, grossly-soft up and turn mucus-yellow; this is when they start to stink. What causes those immeasurably-foul odors? It could not be putricine. Putricine smells like rotting flesh, which is also a foul odor but totally different from that of ripe fruits. To my nose, over-ripe fruits don’t have a smell that even nearly resembles rotting flesh. Both are equally bad odors, though. Its also not ethylene – a chemical used to speed ripening. Ethyl
