Why does fruit become juicy when it ripens?

Question

Have you ever noticed that hard, unripe fruit (like a peach, for instance) is dry when you bite into it? Then wait a couple days after it ripens on your counter and suddenly its juicy. Why?

Answer 1

I'll try to answer in plain English for you. First, the fruit does not absorb water from the air.

Instead, it's actually losing water. The fruit cells breaks down with age and become softer. The softness appears to be making the fruit more "juicy".

You can do an experiment to test this. Weigh an unripe peach with a gram scale. Leave it out for a few days and weigh it again. I bet it's less weight, even though it's more ripe and more juicy!

Answer 2

All fruits are there for a purpose. They make sure the seed(s) they contain are distributed away from the original plant. So as the fruit matures so does the seed(s). When they reach final maturity the fruit will do its thing. Sweet fruit is taken by birds and other animals usually away from the tree to be eaten. The seeds are not digested if the fruit is eaten whole or they will end up scattered around the land after the fruit is torn up. Other fruits have different ways of dispersing the seeds that they carry. Burrs cling on to skin, cloths, and any other things that they come in contact with. Milkweed pops open and the winged seeds float away.

Answer 3

Sorry, previous answers are wrong.
Fruits before ripening have as much water (and even more in some cases) than a ripened one.
What really happens is next: a lot of enzymes get to work together on raw fruit materials and break them in pieces at molecular level. Net result? a lot of molecules where there were few. In this process, all those sugars mix with water already present in the fruit, making it more succulent.

Answer 4

Because, like all good things, it makes you wait for the juicy goodness. It likes to be felt up until it is juicy enough to eat. Squeeze it, is it juicy? mmm... where is the cream to go with that peach. Who was the first to cream their peach? that's the question. Why was the cream necessary?

Answer 5

To release the odors and sugars in order to attract birds who the plant "hopes" will eat the fruit and disperse the seeds.

Answer 6

The air thing is a decent assumption. One would think that the fruit would explode, but they don't, they liquify.

Interesting question.

Answer 7

I think it pulls moisture from the surrounding air, but I'd have to do research on it to verify that.