時差N小時:當香蕉開始腐壞 When Good Bananas Go Bad

Those spots are a natural part of the ripeningprocess.

其實那些斑點是香蕉成熟過程中的自然組成部分。

You see, just like all fresh produce, your bananasare alive.

你知道，和所有的新鮮果蔬一樣，香蕉是活的。

They're taking in oxygen to help them convertsugars into energy, and releasing carbon dioxide.

它們不斷地吸收氧氣來并把糖類轉(zhuǎn)換成能量，釋放出二氧化碳。

This process is called respiration.

這一過程稱為呼吸作用。

The quicker a fruit or vegetablerespires, the quicker it ripens.

果蔬的呼吸作用越快，則成熟得越快。

For most fruits, the respiration rate slows down after the initial growth stage and the fruitripens slowly.

呼吸作用會在生長初期過后減弱，水果的成熟過程也會變慢。

The growth and ripening process of bananas, however, is different.

然而，香蕉的生長和成熟過程卻并不是這樣。

Although at first the banana's respiration slows down too, when it's ready to ripen, thebanana's pulp releases a chemical that increases respiration.

盡管一開始香蕉的呼吸作用也會減弱，但當它快要成熟時，香蕉的果肉會釋放出一種化學物質(zhì)促使呼吸作用增強。

This converts the starches in the banana to sugars and gives it its fabulous taste.

在這一過程中香蕉會把體內(nèi)的淀粉轉(zhuǎn)化成糖，從而變得美味無比。

With all this respiration, the banana eventually processes all the starches available.

正是這種呼吸作用使香蕉最終把所有的淀粉轉(zhuǎn)化成糖。

And that's when it begins to die.

而這也是它開始變質(zhì)的時候。