Climacteric

Climacteric (biology)

In current practice, climacteric is most often a synonym for female menopause. In Princeton University's online Wordnet database, climacteric is listed as: * climacteric...

 fruits refer to fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

s that have high respiration rate

Respiration rate

The respiration rate is a parameter which is used in ecological and agronomical modeling.In theoretical production ecology and aquaculture, it typically refers to respiration per unit of time , also referred to as relative respiration rate...

 during the fruit's ripening

Ripening

Ripening is a process in fruits that causes them to become more palatable. In general, a fruit becomes sweeter, less green, and softer as it ripens. Even though the acidity of fruit increases as it ripens, the higher acidity level does not make the fruit seem tarter, which can lead to the...

. During the ripening process of climacteric fruits, the production of a phytohormone, ethylene

Ethylene

Ethylene is a gaseous organic compound with the formula . It is the simplest alkene . Because it contains a carbon-carbon double bond, ethylene is classified as an unsaturated hydrocarbon. Ethylene is widely used in industry and is also a plant hormone...

, dramatically increase up to 1000-fold of the basal ethylene level.

Climacteric fruits are ones that are able to ripen after being picked. An example of climacteric fruits are bananas; they are picked and shipped green and then ripen at a later time (often in the store or home).

Climacteric fruits include, but are not limited to, apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, cantaloupes, figs

FIGS

FIGS is an acronym for French, Italian, German, Spanish. These are usually the first four languages chosen to localize products into when a company enters the European market....

, guavas, kiwis, mangoes, nectarines, peach

Peach

The peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...

es, pears, persimmons, plums, and tomatoes.