The artificial ripening of mature-green tomatoes.

Since there is the danger of fall frosts damaging a large part of the tomato crop before it is completely harvested, the fruits may be picked in the mature-green stage when frosts appear imminent, and ripened artificially. In some cases, the tomato plants are set out late in the season so that the vines and fruits are at their prime when frosts are likely to occur. The fruit is then harvested in the mature-green stage, stored for a short period and then ripened. This practice lengthens the period of availability of locally grown fresh tomatoes. Tomatoes for the winter and spring markets are grown in the South and shipped to northern cities for the retail trade. The fruit generally arrives in the mature-green stage, and therefore it is necessary to ripen this fruit before putting it on the wholesale or retail markets. The present experiments were therefore designed to determine the optimum ripening conditions of mature-green tomatoes