Have you every wondered why some fruits are more difficult to keep fresh than others?

Fleshy fruits can be divided into two groups: Climacteric vs non-climacteric based on a simple question: Does the fruit continue to ripen once harvested or not? 

Non-climacteric fruits need to be harvested when they are fully ripe. Citrus fruits, strawberries, grapes or cherries for example are non-climacteric fruits.

You guessed right, Avocado is a climacteric fruit, as it continues to "breath" and ripen after harvesting. As a matter of fact, the avocado remains green as long as it is on the tree and starts to ripen once picked or once it falls off the tree. Avocados must be mature to ripen properly. In a perfect world they would fall off the tree and ripen on the ground naturally. Other examples of climacteric fruits are bananas, apples, peaches, pears and mangos which continue to ripen after they have been harvested.

This is due to the naturally generated ethylene gas climacteric fruit emits. When growing on the tree, the fruit produces enough ethylene, once harvested, it can continue to ripen, although it no longer receive more nutrients from the tree it came from. It continues to produce the ethylene it needs to ripen.

Now you can imagine why some tips recommend to put an avocado with a banana in a paper bag. Since both emit ethylene gas they will speed up each other's ripening, but beware that can quickly lead to over-ripening.

The good news is that our fruit just needs to be refrigerated, no need to figure out the ripening as we have managed that entire process for you. When we receive the fruit after harvest, we let Mother Nature take its time for the fruit to naturally ripen, letting the fruit emit its own ethylene gas, making the fruit you receive the freshest and most optimal for consumption in your own home.