Experiment#:

Date:

Topic: Ethylene/Planning and Designing

Problem Statement: Jack noticed that his parents would place a ripe banana in a bunch of
unripe bananas to increase their speed of ripening. Jack learned that some fruits (such as
bananas), when ripe, produce ethylene which stimulates fruit ripening. Plan and Design an
experiment to show the effects of ethylene in fruit ripening.

Hypothesis: Unripe bananas placed together with a ripe banana will ripen faster than an unripe
banana placed by itself due to the secretion of the fruit ripening hormone (ethylene) by the ripe
banana.

Aim: To determine the effect of increased levels of ethylene on the speed of fruit ripening.

Apparatus and Materials: unripe bananas, ripe banana, zip-lock plastic bags, iodine solution,
petri dish, stopwatch, knife.

Procedure:

1. Label each unripe banana sample A and B respectively and place into separate plastic

bags.
2. Place a ripe banana along with sample B and seal both plastic bags.
3. Leave the bananas for 3 days at room temperature. Monitor the fruits once daily
observing any colour changes in each unripe banana. Record observations.
4. On the third day, remove each sample from the plastic bags. Cut the sample in half, then
make a cross section of one of the halves.
5. Place that half face down in 5cm3 of iodine solution in a petri dish for 2 minutes. Repeat
for the other sample.
6. After the 2 minutes, remove the bananas and lightly rinse the stained sides.
7. Observe the degree to which each sample is stained and record observations according

to either unstained, lightly stained and highly stained.

Controlled Variable: length of time each sample was left in the iodine solutions, the type of
bananas used.

Manipulated Variable: the presence of a ripe banana.

Responding Variable: the speed at which the bananas ripen after the 3 days, the intensity of the
stain on each fruit.

Expected Results:

Banana Sample Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Iodine Test

Over the three days, sample B will change colour from green to yellow more quickly. It will also
produce a lighter stain in the iodine test than sample A.

Interpretation: Ethylene is a plant hormone which stimulates fruit ripening. It is secreted by

various fruits (such as bananas) when they become ripe. In the presence of this gas, the rate at
which a fruit ripens is increased and thus, the fruit ripens faster than if it were not in the
presence of the gas. The plastic bags are sealed to ensure that the banana is exposed to the
greatest possible concentration of ethylene and thereby helping it ripen faster.

As the bananas ripen, there is a change in colour (from green to yellow), texture (from hard to
soft) and starch is converted to various sugars. The iodine solution is used to test for the
presence of starch. It binds to starch molecules producing a complex which gives a dark
violet/blue colour depending on the concentration of starch present. The darker the stain, the
more starch present. Therefore, the riper the fruit, the less starch it contains and the lighter the
stain produced by the iodine complex. Thus A is expected to produce a darker stain than B.

Precautions:

 Choose unripe bananas of similar sizes and from the same bunch.
  Do not rinse the bananas too vigorously or too much to prevent removing any of the
stains.

Assumptions:

 The three days are enough for there to be a noticeable difference in the level of ripeness
of the bananas.
 Rinsing the stained side of the bananas had a negligible effect on the intensity of the
stains.

Limitations:

 The initial concentration of starch in each banana is unknown.