Ripening Agents: Arsenic, Phosphorus & Calc Carb

Ripening agents speed up the ripening process.

They allow many fruits to be picked prior to full ripening, which is useful, since ripened fruits do not ship well. For example, bananas are picked when green and artificially
ripened after shipment by being gassed with ethylene.

A similar method used in parts of Asia was to cover a bed of slightly green-harvested mango and a few small open containers of clumps of
calcium carbide with a plastic covering. The moisture in the air reacted with
the calcium carbide to release the gas acetylene, which has the same effect as
ethylene.

Calcium carbide is used for ripening the fruit artificially in some countries. Industrial-grade calcium carbide may contain traces of arsenic and phosphorus, and, thus, use of this
chemical for this purpose is illegal in most countries. Calcium carbide, once
dissolved in water, produces acetylene, which acts as an artificial ripening
agent. Acetylene is believed to affect the nervous system by reducing oxygen
supply to brain; however, it has been shown that, in practice, acetylene is not
sufficiently reactive to affect consumers.

Please remember:

Calcium carbide  Solid CaC2 -59.8

Calcium Carbonate(Calcite)   Solid CaCO3       -1207.6

DO YOU SEE ANY DRUG PROVING IN YOUR PATIENTS, FED ON FRUITS RIPENED BY RIPENING AGENTS?