In article ,
kay wrote:

Firstly, they don't grow wild in Greece - they are escapes, and some
varieties have been selected for going yellow easily (whereas others
have not). Secondly, I said that they don't show their ripeness that
way, not that they don't go yellow eventually - they are usually ripe
well before they go yellow, on the tree, and depending on the variety.

You also said you thought the yellowness was caused by ethylene ...
care to comment on the levels of ethylene in the Greek air?

High, under conditions of still air, in the immediate vicinity of
the skin of a ripening lemon :-).

Except that it might not be ethylene. Lots of fruit give off gases
as they ripen that ALSO increase ripening or colouring in the same
or other fruit. That's why keeping a lot together in an enclosed
space has a different effect from keeping them separate.

And, as I said, a few varieties have been bred to go yellow very
easily.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.