Radio Taiwan International
Date: 27 May, 2019
By: Leslie Liao
台東栽植高雄農改場培育的新品種芒果「蜜雪」，今年開始穩定量產上市，不僅擁有甜美清香，且上櫥架時間較長，深具海內外市場銷售潛力。（劉櫂豪服務處提供）
Mangos are a popular fruit in Taiwan and throughout the world. Peak demand in summer means that farmers have to get creative with the growing process. Often that means using artificial ripening agents. However, the Council of Agriculture says that the fruits are perfectly safe to eat!
If you walk through a mango field in Taiwan… you will see fruits wrapped in paper bags. Farmers do that to protect the mangos and make them ripen faster.
Farmer Lai Yung-kun says these mangos have been treated with a plant hormone called Ethephon, which promotes the release of ethylene. That speeds up the ripening process and boosts production.
It’s easy to be alarmed by the thought of added chemicals on our fruits or vegetables, but the Council of Agriculture says it’s safe.
One of the council’s top quarantine officials, Tsou Hui-chuan says they approved Ethephon in 2014. She says it’s a low-grade toxin that breaks down easily in the soil and water. [FULL STORY]
