Lens on calcium carbide, mango traders use other ripening agents
The calcium carbide, used until a few years ago, releases acetylene gas, which causes a change in colour of the fruit, but doesn’t help in ripening. It is heavily harmful and even causes cancer.
Ripen Mangoes
COIMBATORE: Mango traders have replaced the carcinogenic calcium carbide with non-poisonous ripening agents to ripen the yellow fruit.
“Use of calcium carbide for ripening fruits has been phased out a few years ago. Traders are now using permissible ripening agents like ethephon, a growth regulator that releases ethylene gas for natural ripening of fruits. However, they cannot be used in direct contact with fruits. When the pouches are pricked with two holes before use, it lets the mixture interact with atmospheric moisture and releases ethylene gas,” said R Kathiravan, designated officer of Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI), Salem.
While ethephon is allowed only in gas form, the traders adopt the prohibitive practice of spraying them on the fruit for quicker ripening. Of the 13 shops raided in the fruit market last week in ‘Chinnakadai Veethi’ in Salem, two traders were found to have sprayed ethephon directly on the mangoes. It results in ripening of the fruit within 12 hours due to direct contact of the gas. Around 650 kg of mangoes were seized from those shops and destroyed,” the official added.
The calcium carbide, used until a few years ago, releases acetylene gas, which causes a change in colour of the fruit, but doesn’t help in ripening. It is heavily harmful and even causes cancer.
As the season is dull, the quantity of seizures also remains low. “The quantity of mangoes in stock with traders was just 15 per cent of the normal volume available for sale in the previous years. Because of low yield, premium varieties of mangoes were in stock only in minimal quantities. But in Chennai and other metropolitans, mango arrivals are from other states. But in Salem, local harvest plays a major role. Therefore, the seizure also remains low,” said R Kathiravan.
In Tirupur, officials of the Food Safety Department seized 2.5 tonnes of artificially ripened and rotten mangoes following inspections at market, godowns and retail shops on 30 April.
BITTER FACTS
- Mango prices shot up by upto 50 per cent because of the dry spell.
- A kilogram of first quality ‘imam pasand’ sold for Rs 150 now costs upto Rs 250 in the retail market.
- Mango harvest drops to just 10 percent of the usual yield.
- Salem has mango orchards spread over an area of around 15,000 acres.
- More than 50 varieties of mangoes are grown in Salem.
- Exports hit due to poor yield.
