FRUIT FANTASTIC

Zap a lemon with a laser and you can find out if its ready for the table. Forget
squeezing fruit to see if its ripe just look at the way it glows in the dark. Thats the
message from ortugal! where scinetists ha"e disco"ered that! when ripe! fruits such
as apple and kiwifruit loresce brightly if they are zapped with a laser. They hope the
effect will pro"ide a way to tell the age and ripeness of fruit on a industrial scale!
without anyone ha"ing to touch it.
#le$ander %hamalo"! a physicist at the &ni"ercity of 'oimbra in ortugal!
disco"ered the effect by accident. For laugh! he placed an apple in a de"ice for
measuring fluorescene light emitted by an object when struck by light of another
wa"elength. To his suprise! the pungent gases gi"en off by the apple produced light
when e$cited by the machines laser. (ow they might do this is not known. )*n theory!
these "olatile organic gases should not fluorescene! so * was "ery suprised!+ he
says.
*n further tests! %hamlo" and his colleague (ugh ,urrows disco"ered that its
not just the gases that fluoroscene. The apples skin also seems to ha"e something
to do with it. )The membrane is clearly important!+ says ,urrows. )-hen the gas
molecules come up against the porous membrane of the skin! onlt the most
energetic make it through!+ the researchers speculate. They belie"e these molecules
are in most e$cited state of "ibration than usual. -hen the laser light hits the
molucules! they drop into a lower "ibration state! releasing energy in the form of light.
)*nitially! * was "ery sceptical!+ says ,urrows. ),ut the result seems genuine.+
%hamalo" has also found that the fluorescene spectrum "aries with the fruits
age! becoming more intense as the fruit matures and gi"es off more gas. )#nyone
who keeps apples at home knows they mell more strongly as they get older!+ he
says. The fruit also fluoresce more strongly at the blu end of the spectrum as they
age and gi"e off more methanol.
The fluorescene )signature+ should make it much easier for producers to
determine the age and ripeness of the fruit. #t the moment this must be done
subjecti"ely by squeezing the fruit inspecting it.
%hamalo" belie"es the techniquewill be useful for fruits such as apples!
lemons and kiwifruits! whisch are often stored for long periods. (owe"er! it may not
be well suited for fruits such as strawberries which ripen "ery rapidly. %hamalo" is
also able to tell which part of the world coffee beans come from just by their
fluorescene spectra.
roducers certainly need fast! cheap ways of determining ripeness without
damaging fruit. .ouglas (enderson! chief e$ecuti"e of ,ritains Fresh roduce
'onsortium in eterborough! says )/obody has come up with a reliable non0e"asi"e
system! so this could be of considerable benefit+.
1o! %hamalo" is beginning to workon commercial de"ice that e$pliots the
effect. (e says it may e"en be small and cheap enough for people to use while
shopping 2 ),efore you buy! how do you know whether the fruit has been stored in a
bad atmosphere for three months3+ asks %hamalo". )This could tell you.+
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