Can You Really "Unripen" A Banana With A Blow-dryer And Rice?
The internet has been going bananas recently over a video circulating via Hellou.com, claiming to “unripen” a rotten old piece of fruit, using rice and heat.
網路上最近瘋傳一個聲稱只要用米和熱氣就能「把爛香蕉變新鮮」的視頻。
So after spending 2 minutes of my life watching a guy blow-dry a banana, we decided to investigate (because science).
所以，我花了我這輩子的2分鐘去看一個人把香蕉吹乾。之後，我們決定去調查它的科學真象。
Take a look at the video here if you feel so inclined.
請再看一下這視頻，如果你覺得很不可理解的話。
How is this possible? Is it even possible? The idea of reviving a battered piece of fruit seems thrifty at best, but let’s take a look at the science behind it anyway.
這怎麼可能？它有可能嗎？如果真能把爛香蕉變新鮮而不浪費的話,當然是最好。不過讓我們來看看它背後的科學真象。
Bananas are classed as a climacteric fruit, which means that they continue to ripen after picking. Ripening of fruit is associated with composition change, ie, starch converting into sugar. Ethylene gas, a ripening hormone produced by the plant, plays a major physiological role in the process. While the fruit is still attached to the plant, special receptors in plant cells bind to the ethylene, keeping the fruit ripening genes from activating. Once a fruit is picked, plant genes ETR1 and CTR1 turn off, which causes a domino effect that ultimately results in the release of ethylene and turns on other genes that make various enzymes. These include: pectinases, which break down cell walls and soften the fruit; amylases, which convert starch to simple sugars; and hydrolases, which degrade the chlorophyll in the fruit, resulting in the color change – in this case from green to yellow. This is believed to invite animals to eat the fruit and disperse seeds via defecation.
香蕉被歸類為一種躍變型果實，這意味著它們被採摘後仍能繼續成長變熟。果實成熟與組成的變化，即所謂的澱粉轉化為糖份。乙烯氣體，是一個主要的生理作用,在這個過程中產生熟化激素。而果實如果仍然附著在樹上，其特別受體在樹幹細胞中結合於乙烯，是保持果實從激活成熟的基因。一旦香蕉被摘下，樹幹基因的ETR1和CTR1馬上關閉，這會導致骨牌效應，最終因乙烯的釋放和開啟的其它各種基因，使其發酶。這些包括：果膠酶，它打破細胞壁軟化果實;澱粉酶，其中澱粉轉化為單糖;和水解酶，其果實降解葉綠素，導致顏色的變化 - 在這種情況下，從綠色變成黃色。據信這是經過試驗讓動物吃下果實並經由其排便分散種子。
As these processes continue and the cells within a banana denature, it eventually becomes rotten and pretty unappealing to eat.
隨著這些一路過程和香蕉中的細胞變性，它最終變成腐爛和不再有吸引力的想去吃它。
Considering all of these chemical changes in composition within the fruit as it ripens and rots, is it possible to revive a gross old banana using rice and heat?
考慮到所有的成分和這些化學變化，香蕉由成熟期到腐爛，怎么可能用米和熱氣就能把爛香蕉變新鮮了呢？
Debate has previously raged on how to store and best extend the life of bananas – should they be left at room temperature or stored in the fridge? Storing bananas in a cold environment drastically slows the conversion of starch to sugars, which means that the flesh stays good for longer. However, when they are placed in the fridge, an enzyme (polyphenyl oxidase) combines with phenols in the peel to create polyphenols, which causes the outer skin to turn brown. So although the fruit inside is still tasty and ripe, the skin looks rotten.
如何保存和延長香蕉的壽命 - 它們應該被放置在室溫下或儲存在冰箱裡呢？儲存香蕉在寒冷的環境下,將急劇減緩其澱粉轉化為糖份，這意味著該香蕉可以保持良好和更長的時間。然而，當它們被放置在冰箱中，酶（聚苯氧化酶）結合在果皮產生多酚，這會導致蕉皮變成褐色酚。因此，儘管裡面果實仍然是美味和成熟，但蕉皮看起來就很暗爛。
What conclusions did we draw from our investigation? We actually did try this ourselves in the office, and were left with nothing but a still-rotten banana. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we simply have another case of the internet leading us up the garden path for reasons that only the individuals coming up with this rubbish will know.
從我們的調查裡到底得出個什麼結論呢？實際上, 我們也有實驗過，但試過後它仍然是爛香蕉一條。
You can't revive a rotten banana. This leaves us with two hypotheses – by placing the banana in the fridge, the banana flesh is preserved but the skin goes brown (which is what we're seeing in this video). Placing the banana in the rice removes moisture from the skin, and gently heating the banana back to a normal temperature may reverse the effects of cooling on the skin, restoring the color.
你不能復活一條爛香蕉。這片段給我們留下了兩個假設: 先將香蕉放在冰箱裡，香蕉果肉被保留，但皮膚變為棕色（這就是我們看到的這段視頻所呈現出來的影像）。然後將香蕉置於米裡頭去除蕉皮上的水份，並輕輕加熱使香蕉回復到正常溫度進而恢復黃顏色。
...That, or it's simply lighting or computer trickery.
結論: ......所以，它也非常有可能是電腦合成照造假的。
