Uses of plant hormones Questions

Question 1

Tomatoes are often picked while they are green and unripe, then transported to the distributors. Here, they are exposed to ethene gas.

a) Suggest why the tomatoes are transported before they are ripe
b) Explain why ethene gas is added to the tomatoes before they are taken to the supermarkets

Answer 1

a) The fruit is still quite hard at this stage so it is less likely to be damaged. Therefore, most of the tomatoes will be undamaged and the shops can make more profit.
b) This causes ripening so that the tomatoes turn from green to red.

Question 2

Explain why selective weedkillers are useful

Answer 2

Selective weedkillers kill weed plants but not the crop plants. This means that the crop plants can get more water and minerals and so grow bigger/produce more food.

Question 3

Ripe bananas give off a gas called ethene. Pears stored next to ripe bananas ripen more quickly than pears stored next to unripe bananas.
Explain why.

Answer 3

Ripe bananas release a gas which acts as a ripening hormone on other fruit.
(Ethene causes fruit to ripen)
Unripe bananas don’t release ethen.